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Leading News
PM for increasing maternity leave
to six months
13,500 community health providers to be appointed soon
UNB, Dhaka
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday said maternity
leave should be increased to six months from the present
four months.
"Maternity leave should be increased to six months. I
think four months' maternity leave is not enough for the
mothers to take best care of their new born babies," the
Prime Minister said while speaking at a function at the
Osmani Memorial auditorium.
Bangladesh government and Unicef jointly arranged the
function marking the Safe Motherhood Day observed on May
28.
A total of 27 health facilities from seven divisions have
received best performance awards. The prime minister
distributed the awards among the recipients.
The Prime Minister also emphasized ensuring emergency
obstetric care to reduce early death of mothers during
childbirth.
On maternity leave, the Prime Minister said her previous
government had increased maternity leave to four months.
"Nowadays the mothers usually take one or two babies. So I
think if they are given six months leave, it will not
hamper anything," she said.
Justifying her stand for increasing the maternity leave,
the Prime Minister said after six months, a baby attains
the capacity to take hard foods.
The Prime Minister also called for setting up Mothers'
Corner and Day-care centers at all government and
non-government offices, shopping malls, buses, rail
stations and all other public places.
"A working mother having new born babies has to attend
office keeping her baby at home. That's why mothers cannot
be attentive at office while the baby also does not get
the best care of mother," she said.
On the Mothers' Corner, the Prime Minister said mothers
must be given an ideal environment for breast feeding
while she stays in office.
Hasina also suggested the young mothers to live in joint
families instead of going for single family.
"Unfortunately, young generation are becoming
materialistic. They want to get their own single family.
But if the young mothers stay in joint family, then their
children can get better care," she said.
Drawing attention to gender discrimination in the society,
the Prime Minister requested guardians of the families
including mother-in-laws, neighbours, husbands and all
relatives to be more careful to the expecting women.
The Prime Minister revealed that the government in a fresh
move is going to appoint 13,500 community health providers
in a bid to provide mothers and children with more quality
services.
Besides, by 2015, 13,500 skilled birth attendants will be
created to ensure safe child delivery at home, the Prime
Minister said.
Khaleda
Zia cautions officials against illegal actions
UNB, Dhaka
Opposition leader Khaleda Zia on Sunday night cautioned
the officials against taking illegal and unconstitutional
actions at the behest of the government.
"No government is the last government," she reminded the
government officials with a warning that anyone taking
illegal, unconstitutional actions favouring the 'fascist'
government will face the consequences.
Talking to newsmen at her Gulshan office the BNP
chairperson pointed to the reported 'inhuman torture' on
daily Amar Desh acting editor Mahmudur Rahman in police
remand since arrested on June 2.
Terming it cruelty Khaleda called upon people to build up
a tough movement to eliminate fascism and stand against
the heinous politics of vengeance.
Mahmudur Rahman in CMM court on Saturday narrated how he
was physically tortured and urged the court to protect him
from painful suffering.
Khaleda said the way Mahmudur Rahman was tortured in
custody gives the people to understand that the government
intended to annihilate him.
She alleged the Rahman's lawyers were not allowed to meet
with him. A number MPs and journalists were also not
allowed in DB office where he is detained.
Khaleda observed the government does not obey the
constitution, law, order of the court, norms and ethics
neither care human rights. None in the country is seemed
secured. It is impossible for any journalist to freely
express his thoughts and views, she added.
Khandaker Delwar Hossain, Barrister Moudud Ahmed MP and
Barrister Rafiqul Islam Mia, Shawkat Mahmud, Khandaker
Mahbub Hossain, Barrister Mahbubuddin Khokon MP, advocate
Sanaullah Mia, Barrister Nasiruddin Ashim and advocate
Masud Ahmed Talukder were present at the briefing.
Chinese
Vice President arrives today
Dhaka to receive 40 million RMB grant from Beijing
Space satellite issue to be discussed
UNB, Dhaka
China will provide 40 million RMB (5.85 million USD) as
grant to Bangladesh under an economic cooperation
agreement to be signed today (Monday) after formal talks
between Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Chinese Vice
President Xi Jinpeng.
Xi will arrive today on a 2-day official visit to
Bangladesh. 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.
Briefing reporters at the Foreign Ministry Sunday Foreign
Minister Dipu Moni said installation of Bangladesh's
planned satellite in space will be discussed at the Hasina-Xi
talks among other bilateral, regional and international
issues. A Chinese company recently visited Dhaka and
discussed the matter with the Post and Telecommunication
Minister and the State Minister for Science and ICT. Dipu
Moni said the company made some proposals about the
proposed satellite which are being examined.
Asked about a concrete proposal from Bangladesh seeking
Chinese assistance to set up a deep seaport at Sonadia in
Chittagong , she said since it is a large project, it
takes time to prepare the proposal. Bangladesh sought
Chinese assistance regarding the deep seaport during the
Prime Minister's visit to Beijing last March.
About the Kunming initiative under which a tri-nation
highway connecting Chittagong and Kunming through Myanmar
would be set up, the Foreign Minister said discussions are
on between the two governments.
Asked about the purchase of military hardware from China,
Dipu Moni said since Bangladesh is a major buyer of
military hardware from China, the purchase of military
hardware would be discussed but there will not be any
agreement during Xi's visit. The two-way trade amounted to
US$ 4.58 billion last year of which Bangladesh's import
bill was US$ 4.4 billion.
Sky Marshal, internal security at HC
No legal, diplomatic bar to India’s proposal: Dipu Moni
UNB, Dhaka
Foreign Minister Dipu Moni has said there is no legal or
diplomatic bar to allow Sky Marshal in Indian aircraft
flying to Bangladesh or for internal security at the
Indian High Commission to be maintained by its own
security personnel.
Replying to a question at a regular press briefing on
Sunday, she said the government is examining certain
observations of the Indian proposal on the Sky Marshal.
"We're discussing issues like how much access will be
given to (Indian) Sky Marshall."
About the Indian proposal to maintain internal security at
its High Commission in Dhaka by its own security
personnel, Dipu Moni said that as per Vienna Convention
the host country looks after the outside security of a
foreign mission and internal security is maintained by
respective foreign mission.
"We will give the consent if the proposal is reasonable,"
she said in reply to a question.
The Foreign Minister told another correspondent that it
takes time to come to a conclusion since the proposal is
new to the government and the two ministries - Home
Affairs and Foreign Affairs - are involved.
Govt plans to introduce strict
law against eve teasing: Nahid
UNB, Dhaka
Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid on Sunday said that
the government has taken various initiatives to stop
eve-teasing in the country to ensure congenial atmosphere
in the educational institutions.
"The government is now planning to introduce a strict law
against eve teasing," he said at a protest rally on the
premises of Central Shaheed Minar. Addressing the rally as
chief guest, the Education Minister emphasized waging a
strong social movement against eve teasing that has become
a social menace.
"We were shocked by the unprecedented rate of suicide
cases among the young girls due to eve teasing over the
last few months," he said.
"As conscious citizens, we should initiate some effective
measures to encounter this gender biased social menace.
But first, we need to find out the causes of eve teasing."
Nahid said: "If we want to reduce this heinous crime, we
must launch a strong social movement apart from
introducing punitive legal measures. We also need to
formulate a mass awareness programme in this regard."
He urged the girls to inform their guardians about any
incident of eve teasing and later the people's
representatives and administration to help address the
problem. The Education Minister also called upon all
sections of the society to come forward to protest the
evil practice.
Earlier, different schools in the city brought out
processions protesting eve teasing and converged in front
of the Central Shaheed Minar. Former advisor of the
caretaker government Rasheda K Chowdhury, president of
International Theatre Institute Ramendu Majumder, Dhaka
University (DU) vice-chancellor Prof AAMS Arefin Siddique,
pro vice-chancellor Prof Harun-or-Rashid and treasurer
Prof Mizanur Rahman, and teachers and students of
different schools were present at the programme.
Move to impose control on PLCs
may foil govt’s reform goal
UNB, Dhaka
A move by the Power Ministry to impose control over the
newly created state-owned corporate entities in the power
sector may foil the government's long-cherished reform
goals.
According to official sources, the Power Division in April
this year created a consultative committee to monitor,
control and oversee the activities of the 10 state-owned
public limited companies (PLCs).
The committee, in a meeting, presided over by the State
Minister for Power and Energy, decided that either the
secretary or additional secretary of the Power Division
will be the chairman of each of the PLCs.
Similarly, the PLCs will have to consult with the
consultative body prior to taking any decision regarding
different issues like pay and perks, manpower recruitment,
promotion, extension of agreement and house rent fixation.
This decision invoked a huge frustration among the
operating boards of the PLCs as they think this would
immensely curtail their independence in running the
organizations in a commercial manner.
Under a power sector reform programme, supported by the
donor agencies, the government, by dividing the Power
Development Board (PDB) and the defunct Dhaka Electric
Supply Authority (DESA), created a number of public
limited companies (PLCs).
The PLCs include the Power Grid Companies of Bangladesh (PGCB),
Dhaka Power Supply Company Ltd (DESCO), Dhaka power
Distribution Company Ltd (DPDC), Electricity Generation
Company of Bangladesh (EGCB), Ashuganj Power Station
Company Ltd (APSC), North-West Power Generation Company
Ltd (NWPGC) and the West Zone Power Distribution Company
Ltd (WZPDCL).
All these PLCs were registered with the Registrar of the
Joint Stock Companies and Firms under the Companies Act
1994.
The main objective behind the creation of these PLCs was
to turn them into corporations in the power sector with
the goals of reducing the system loss, increasing revenue
collection, making the PLCs independent, vibrant,
profitable and truly commercial organisations.
Back Page
President for protecting human
rights across country
BSS, Dhaka
President Zillur Rahman on Sunday urged all concerned to
take effective measures for protecting human rights across
the country.
The President was talking to a five-member delegation of
the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) at Bangabhaban
here.
The delegation, led by Chairman of the commission Justice
Amirul Kabir Chowdhury, submitted its annual report for
2009-2010 to the President.
During the meeting, the delegation told the Pres-ident
that the human rights situation of the country is
improving and the commission is relentlessly working to
ensure human rights for all. The delegation also apprised
the President of its regular activities and sought his
cooperation for further development of the commission.
President Zillur Rahman assured the delegation of
extending his all-out support for protecting the human
rights in the country as well as allocating the necessary
budget to build the commission's office and recruit its
staff for smooth activities. Secretaries concerned of the
President's Office were present at the meeting.
Iran and Pakistan
sign gas export deal
AFP, Tehran
Iran and Pakistan formally signed on Sunday an export deal
which stipulates that the Islamic republic would begin
supplying its eastern neighbour natural gas from 2014.
The contract is the latest step in completing a
multi-billion dollar gas pipeline between Iran and
Pakistan within the next four years.
"This is a happy day," Iran's deputy oil minister Javad
Ouji told reporters at the contract signing ceremony.
"After decades of negotiations, we are witnessing today
the execution of the agreement... to export more than 21
million cubic metres (742 million cubic feet) of natural
gas daily from 2014 to Pakistan," he added.
He said that from Monday, Iran will start building the
next 300-kilometre (187.5 miles) leg of the pipeline from
the southeastern city of Iranshahr to the Pakistani
border, through the Iranian port of Chabahar.
Iran has already constructed 907-kilometres of the
pipeline between Asalooyeh, in southern Iran, and
Iranshahr, which will carry natural gas from Iran's South
Pars field.
Pakistan's Deputy Energy Minister Kamran Lashari, who was
present at the signing ceremony, said that Islamabad will
conduct a one-year feasibility study for building its
section of the pipeline. It will then "take three years
for constructing the 700-kilometre pipeline" from the
Iranian border to the Pakistani city of Naw-abshah, he
added.
The pipeline was originally planned between Iran, Pakistan
and India, but the latter pulled out of the project last
year. Pakistan plans to use the gas purchased from Iran
for its power sector.
Govt to import
100,000 MT wheat to meet domestic requirement
UNB, Dhaka
The government will import 100,000 metric tons (MT) of
wheat in order to meet domestic requirements.
Cabinet Committee on Public Purchase on Sunday at a
meeting approved a Food and Disaster Management Ministry's
tender proposal in this regard. The meeting, presided over
by Finance Minister AMA Muhith, also approved another 4
purchase proposals under different ministries.
A senior official at the Cabinet Division said the
purchase proposals include the Industry's Ministry
procurement of 30,000 MT granular urea fertilizer from the
local markets and also import of 30,000 MT phosphoric acid
for state-owned fertilizer factories.
Health and Family Welfare Ministry received the
committee's nod to import 150,000 pieces of contraceptive
pills while Communication Ministry obtained the approval
for construction of 3.8 kilometre roads for Dopdabiya
Bridge.
Investigation to
detect perpetrators of crimes in 1971 going on properly:
Shafique
BSS, Dhaka
Law Minister Barrister Shafique Ahmed on Sunday said that
the investigation to identify the perpetrators of crimes
against humanity during the War of Liberation is going on
properly.
"We cannot disclose any information in the interest of the
investigation," he said this afternoon while talking to
reporters during his visit to the tribunal at old High
Court Bhaban here.
Replying to a query, the minister said all necessary
logistic supports would be provided on demand of the
concerned persons in holding the trial as well as
investigation. Replying to another question, he said the
investigation agency is the only competent authority to
say when the chargesheets will be submitted. Attorney
General Mahbubey Alam, Senior Advocate and Awami League
presidium member Yousuf Hossain Humayun, former president
of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) AFM Mesbauddin
and chief of the prosecution penal Golum Arif Tipu
accompanied the minister during his visit.
62,000
volunteers to be trained to face earthquake risks
BSS, Dhaka
As part of the earthquake preparedness programme, the
government has initiated a plan to impart training to some
62,000 volunteers across the country to tackle the future
risks of possible earthquake in Bangladesh.
Under this programme, Bangladesh Fire Service and Civil
Defence had trained up some 1,000 volunteers with the
assistance from the Ministry of Food and Disaster
Management.
Director General of Fire Service and Civil Defence
Brigadier General Abu Naeem Md Shahidullah informed this
to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina while donating Taka
100,000 to the Prime Minister's Relief and Welfare Fund at
Ganob-haban this evening on behalf of his organization.
The Prime Minister thanked all concerned especially the
Bangladesh Fire Service and Civil Defence for their hectic
efforts to conduct rescue operations and other activities
during any disasters in Bangladesh. In this context, the
Prime Minister mentioned that her government has a plan to
set up fire stations at every upazila of the country.
The Fire Brigade Director General further apprised the
Prime Minister that a process is at the final stage to
collect 14,00 fire suits for the fire fighters.
Besides, various institutions and individuals on Sunday
donated a total of Taka 65 lakh in aid of the victims of
Neemtoli and Begunbari fire and building collapse
incidents.
Officers and employees of the Ministry of Environment and
Forests also donated their one day's salary amounting to
Taka 3,86,601 to the relief fund of the Prime Minister.
The amount also includes 7 days' salary of State Minister
for Forests and Environment Dr Hsaan Mahmud. However,
teachers and employees of Jagannath University donated
their one day's salary to the relief fund of Prime
Minister Sunday morning. The university's Vice-chancellor
handed over a cheque for the donated money to the Prime
Minister at her Bangladesh Secretariat office.
Dhaka-Kolkata
container train service to begin soon
UNB, Chuadanga
Dhaka-Kolkata container train service through Darshana
land port of the district will begin soon. Official
sources said all preparations for launching the train
service are nearing completion and the authorities got the
necessary approval for the movement of the container train
over the Bangabandhu Bridge.
So far, Indian goods are being brought here through sea
route causing problem to medium and small importers.
Considering the matter authorities of the two neighboring
countries took decision to introduce the container train
service after a feasibility study.
Bangladesh Railway western divisional chief operating
superintendent's office sources said the movement of BG
BLCA and BLCP type wagon over the Bangabandhu Bridge got
government approval.
District Industries and Traders Association president
Habibur Rahman said trade opportunities will be extended
if container train service is introduced.
General Secretary of Darshana land station C&F agent
Association Atiar Rahman said the land station will become
vibrant and active with the start of the much expected
train service.
It will create employment opportunities and raise revenue
earnings of the land port, he added. Bangladesh Railway
western divisional (Rajshahi) chief operating
superintendent Abdul Wahab said, "The authorities of both
the countries reached a consensus on the train service and
we hope it will begin soon."
Special fund
for ICT sector demanded
BSS, Dhaka
Leaders of the country's ICT organizations on Sunday urged
the government to allocate a special fund for the ICT
sector to make this thrust sector strong enough to help
build Bangladesh a digital country. They were addressing a
press conference on post-budget reaction jointly organized
by Bang-ladesh Computer Samity (BCS), Bangladesh Assoc-iation
of Software and Information Services (BA-SIS) and Internet
Service Providers Association of Bangladesh (ISPAB) at
Bangabandhu International Conference Centre.
They said their is no clear indication regarding the
development of Hi-Tech Park, 2nd Submarine Cable and land
digitization in this budget. It was supposed to allocate
nearly Taka 700 crore for the development of ICT industry
but this year's budget does not have any direction about
this issue, they added.
They thanked the government for allocating Taka 3000 crore
for Public-Private Partnership. But they requested to
include here the ICT development along with Infrastructure
development. They urged to reduce the internet fee for the
further expansion of ICT Industry. "Now this industry is
at its initial stage. So the government should subsidize
this sector for making Digital Bangladesh within 2021,"
they said.
Editorial
Reckless driving
A
couple met tragic death in the city on Saturday. A
motorcyclist and his wife were killed by a bus at Moghbazar
crossing in the city in the morning. The deceased were Saiful
Huda Shahin, 35, an employee of a real estate company and his
wife Soheli Akhter Shampa, 30, who worked in a daily
newspaper. The couple resided in the city's Rampura. A
Sayedabad-bound bus hit the motorcycle from behind and ran
them over as they fell on the ground.
Another tragic death took place in the city in a road accident
on June 5. Kamrun Nahar Joti a college student met the tragic
end of her life as she fell victim to the reckless driving of
a city service bus. Joti's death came as the rickshaw carrying
her was hit by a speedy bus driven by an unscrupulous driver
at Malibagh. Earlier, BUET student Khandaker Khanjahan Samrat
was run over by a bus, moving on reverse gear in front of the
Eden Girls' College on May 27.
Some more students have also been killed in road accidents in
the city in the recent past. But any punishment is yet to be
awarded to the drivers responsible for the deaths. So is the
history of many such deaths in the past and that is the reason
behind the frequent recurrences of such deaths in accidents. A
national daily has quoted the Dhaka Metropolitan Police as
saying that nearly 98 per cent of the accidents take place
because of reckless driving and the culprits are mostly
drivers of public transports. In 2009, the Accident Monitoring
Cell of the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority recorded 3,381
accidents that caused 2,958 deaths and 2,223 serious injuries
across the country.
In recent times, the number of deaths in road accident has
increased alarmingly, but authorities are yet to take
effective measures against reckless driving. It is time for
them to act and set up example by awarding punishment to the
killer drivers.
Flood and erosion
Flood
and erosion are annual Phenomenon in our country. This year
also the season of these two scourges has began and a large
number of people have been affected at different places of the
country. Biani Bazaar in Sylhet is in the grip of a severe
flood where at least 73 affected families have been provided
shelter in 23 relief centres till Saturday evening. More than
one lakh people in 60 villages are marooned.All the 138
primary schools in the upazila have been declared flood relief
centres. Waters are rolling down from the upstream in Assam
inflating the Kushiara and Surma rivers which are flowing well
above the danger mark. Sutarkandi land port has gone under
water and export-import activities with India remained
suspended.
These indicate that the situation caused by flood in
Bianibazar is grave. Meanwhile, heavy rains and continuous
onrush of hilly waters caused further rises in the major
rivers on the Brahmaputra basin with sporadic incidents of
erosions . With the continuous rises in the water levels in
recent days, stronger currents caused sporadic erosion many
riverside houses and lands at various places in Kurigram,
Gaibandha and Sirajganj districts.
According to some other reports, a sudden rise in the water
level of the Brahmaputra sparked erosion of its banks in Sadar
upazila of Sherpur district devouring 15 houses in
Charpakkhimari union, breaking four try-dams and threatening
two school buildings at Bepari Para . Besides, different
rivers are eroding their banks and devouring land, crop fields
and homesteads in different areas. For example, 21 villages of
Kurigram and Kishoreganj have been devoured by river erosion.
The homesteads of 450 families there have gone into river-bed
and the affected people are passing their days under open sky.
With the rise of water level, large scale erosion by rivers is
going on at different places of the country. The Padma has
devoured two kilometre crop land in Aliabad union under
Faridpur Sadar thana of Faridpur district. Jamuna river has
eroded vast tract of land at Saghata in Gaibandha. The river
has devoured two hundred homesteads and trees and crops
recently. Two barracks of Natarkandi Shelter Centre at
Chilmari in Kurigram have gone into river bed as the
Brahmaputra continues to erode its bank. Many families
rendered homeless by erosion are now passing days under open
sky. Similarly rivers are eroding their banks at Manikganj,
Munshiganj, Shariatpur, Bogra and Maulbibazar.
Flood and erosion are nothing new in Bangladesh as they ravage
the country every year and leave trails of destruction across
the country. Flood plays havoc with lives and properties and
causes extensive damage to crops while river erosion devours
vast tracts of lands causing further shrinkage in the
cultivable areas. 2.5 lakh pople fall prey to river erosion
annually and it causes loss of Tk 1000 crore. On an average 10
thousand hectares of lands go to river-bed every year. Tk.
4000 crore has been spent in 35 years to resist river erosion
by constructing embankments, spars and throwing bolders and
sand bags. River erosion has been declared national disaster
by govt in 1993. The huge people turned destitute or homeless
due to flood and erosion swell up the number of rootless
floating people streaming to the cities for shelter and
livelihood. Thus flood and erosion cause colossal national
loss every year and we hear huge hue and cry over it. But
unfortunately, effective measures are not taken to resolve
these problems and check their recurrences annually. The
sporadic and unplanned measures taken in this regard do not
serve any purpose. Well planned concerted efforts are needed
for permanent resolution of the flood and erosion problems.
Government should take steps to construct adequate number of
embankments and dump sandbags there to stop the erosion.
Analysis
After the Afghan Jirga
Peace and stability can be restored to
Afghanistan under a plan that addresses the concerns and
interests of all stakeholders.
Saleem Safi
The Afghan Grand
Jirga was not expected to produce immediate concrete outcomes
for peace in Afghanistan. But this event was an achievement
for both Karzai and Pakistan. Karzai always wanted to pursue
the path of reconciliation with the Taliban, but the United
States opposed all such moves. The US did not support the idea
in the initial stages. But the jirga representing all Afghans
has endorsed Karzai's plans for reconciliation. Now it will be
difficult for the US and its allies to stop the reconciliation
process.
The Americans, the Indians and some groups and elements in
Afghanistan had made Karzai's re-election as president
controversial in the beginning. But this jirga attended by
people like Yunus Qanooni and Burhanuddin Rabbani has
effectively legitimised Karzai's presidency.
President Karzai had been trying since 2008 to remove his
anti-Pakistan intelligence chief Amrullah Salih, who was
enjoying the backing of the US and India, but had been unable
to do so. Probably this jirga give him the courage to remove
him.
For Pakistan it is reassuring that its stance of
reconciliation with the Taliban during the initial years of
the US occupation has now been endorsed by the representative
Afghan jirga. Additionally, the jirga recommended excluding
the names of Taliban leaders from the United Nations
blacklist. On the other hand, India tried in vain to scuttle
the whole process with the help of some Afghan partners.
But when it failed, it tried to create controversial issues
between Afghanistan and Pakistan, like the Durand Line, during
the Jirga. But on this front too it failed to win. The Durand
Line issue could not make it to the list of the jirga
schedule, and the Jirga ratified all those points which
Pakistan has been championing from the beginning.
It is heartening that the ideas of Pakistan and Afghanistan on
peace and stability in the region are developing consensus. In
this regard, the Afghan government has refocused on the
peaceful reconciliation process with the Taliban and other
resistance forces. For the first time, it is taking concrete
steps for excluding the names of the Taliban leadership from
the UN blacklist. However, the Afghan issue has become very
complicated.
Therefore, in the absence of the will and cooperation of the
US and its allies, the regional players and neighbouring
stakeholders, durable peace in Afghanistan is hard to achieve.
In this backdrop, Pak-Afghan support for reconciliation
efforts will not restore peace and stability. This cherished
goal will be realised if Pakistan, the Afghan government, the
Taliban, the US and its allies, and the regional and
neighbouring stakeholders join hands to play a constructive
role for an end to the war.
The US will never allow Afghanistan to become an Al Qaeda safe
haven for launching attacks in the US or other countries.
Also, it will not tolerate any regime in Kabul that is against
modern Western values.
The Afghan government has its own dilemmas. It does not want
its current security dependency upon the international
security forces to continue for an indefinite period of time.
But at the same time, Kabul wants the international community
to remain fully committed to Afghanistan's security against
the Taliban and other resistance forces. In this way, the
international community will stay relevant to the problems
faced by Kabul.
Kabul fears that in case of withdrawal of the international
forces Afghanistan will again be left at the mercy of the
Taliban and other resistance forces. After a return of
stability, Kabul will need $3-4 billion annually for security
and for its economic survival.
The Taliban have their own concerns. They are insisting that
the foreign forces leave Afghan soil. Due to their structure
and past experiences, the Taliban will hardly be interested in
becoming part of a government or a setup that provides any
justification for foreign troops to stay on Afghan soil.
Similarly, the Taliban will not accept any political plan
devised under the auspices of the US. Their best bet will be a
share in the government, with a considerable say in the
constitutional and political structure of the country.
Since the issue has many regional and international
dimensions, neighbouring countries are also struggling to
remove their concerns and preserve their interests in the
future Afghanistan. Iran does not want the US to stay in
Afghanistan and does not want an anti-Iran government in
Kabul. It envisages a Kabul that serves as a market for
Iranian cultural and economic products.
Russia and the Central Asian states will not like the US and
its allies to stay in Afghanistan for longer than necessary.
At the same time, they abhor a Taliban-style religious
government in Kabul that could export an extremist
interpretation of Islam to those countries.
Of late, China is not supporting the US presence in
Afghanistan. It has been working to extend its influence in
Kabul. To save itself from future troubles in its Western
provinces, the Chinese leadership is also eager to see the
possibility of any religious extremist government in Kabul
disappear.
India wishes to preserve its historical influence in Kabul and
prevent the formation of a government that might lean towards
Islamabad.
Pakistan is legitimately concerned about any government in
Kabul that can be used by India against Pakistani interests.
Stability is a cherished goal for Pakistan, but it seeks
relations with Kabul on favourable terms.
Any government in Kabul that seems close to India or raises
issues like the Durand Line will find no place in the good
books of the Pakistani establishment.
Internationally, many important countries have got concerns
and interests in Afghanistan -- such as Germany, the UK,
Canada, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Egypt and Jordan. But the
predominant stakeholders are the countries mentioned earlier.
Peace and stability can be restored to Afghanistan under a
plan that addresses the concerns and interests of all
stakeholders.
The writer works for Geo TV. Email: saleem.safi@janggroup.
com.pk
The economy
and militancy
The inability of the Pakistani state to assume the key
role in helping the poor cope with socio-economic
pressures weakens their trust in the state and partly
explains the growing tendency towards religious extremism
and militancy.
Dr Hasan-Askari Rizvi
The
federal budget, announced on June 5, 2010, did not
surprise anyone. No one expected that it would provide any
significant economic relief to ordinary people, although
official circles maintain that it is the best possible
budget under the current difficult economic situation.
The budget is no longer a guarantee of the economy moving
along the proposed lines for one year because the
government seems to have lost control of the prices of
food items and other goods of daily use for the common
people.
The big economic mafias can easily manipulate the prices
of items of daily use. The overactive Supreme Court had
fixed the price of sugar at Rs 40 per kilogramme in 2009.
Suddenly sugar disappeared from the market and when it
reappeared its price ranged between Rs 60 and 70.
Within one year, sugar prices surged by over 100 percent.
The government could not touch the sugar mill owners and
the major sugar traders who manipulated the price. During
the last two years, we have witnessed the manipulation of
market supply and prices of wheat flour and cooking oil.
Not to speak of the big economic mafias, middle level
traders and the business elite who have not stayed behind
in raising the prices of food items and goods of daily
household use.
The price hike does not directly hit the power elite and
parliamentarians, most of who do not bother to check the
market for prices and availability of goods. If one goes
to the receptions and dinners of these big shots, every
type of food is available in unlimited quantity and one
does not feel that there are periodic shortages and price
hikes.
There is another factor that reduces the relevance of the
budget for ordinary people. Oil prices are revised every
month. As most revisions are upward, the prices of goods,
services and transport go up. When oil price is brought
down, the prices of goods and transport are not reduced.
Several categories of people have benefitted from this
unfair economy. Young people with the requisite academic
background have been absorbed in banking, information
technology (IT), telecommunication, some commercial
sectors and the construction business. Private sector
education is another area where investors make money by
setting up schools and colleges.
State universities have been allowed to run two or three
shifts for the same or similar courses, enabling
professors to double their income. There is no guarantee
of the quality of these new programmes.
Further, this has reduced state universities to the level
of colleges where the emphasis is on teaching classes (and
making money) and the main function of the university -
creation of new knowledge - gets little attention. Nobody
is willing to pay any attention to the social consequences
of producing half-baked university degree holders in a
society where people below the age of 30 constitute a
majority.
The economy is not in a position to accommodate
semi-literate and illiterate people who are several times
more than those absorbed in the economy over the last
four-five years. It is they who are seriously hit by the
downturn of the economy, especially by the paucity of
investment in industry and related sectors that can create
jobs for this stratum of the Pakistani population.
Skewed economic growth has increased disparities and
inequities in Pakistan because a mass of humanity
continues to suffer from deprivation. The government has
made some efforts like the Benazir Income Support
Programme, to help such families. Such programmes need to
be expanded and made more effective.
Two other sources help the poor. First, private charity
plays an important role in helping the poor. In addition
to the organisations committed to charitable work, many
families and individuals quietly provide financial
assistance or donate food items to the poor.
Second, some families can deflect economic pressures from
the funds received by them from their members working
abroad, mainly in the Gulf region, the US and the UK.
Foreign remittances are an economic safety valve for a
large number of Pakistanis and provide foreign exchange to
the Pakistani sate.
The socio-economic landscape of the ordinary Pakistani is
also characterised by extreme deficiencies in healthcare,
education and clean drinking water. Healthcare facilities
are either non-existent in far and remote areas and
villages or are available in the cities to only those who
can afford them. Similarly, there is an urgent need to
upgrade primary and high school education facilities in
most rural and some urban areas. Official data shows a
lack of basic facilities for school education.
Another aspect of education pertains to the contents of
education that need to be focused on the notion of the
nation state, citizenship and ethics. The problem of clean
water has become acute in many urban and rural areas where
the people cannot afford to buy bottled water.
In some towns, the local government has set up filtered
water centres where the people can get clean and safe
water free of cost. Such programmes have to be expanded.
The inability of the Pakistani state to assume the key
role in helping the poor cope with socio-economic
pressures weakens their trust in the state and partly
explains the growing tendency towards religious extremism
and militancy.
The Pakistani state and its foreign allies need to be seen
by the ordinary people as their well-wishers. They should
work towards giving the poor and weaker sections of
society hope for a better future mediated through the
institutions and processes of the Pakistani state.
The current disappointment and alienation of ordinary
people make them vulnerable to extremist religious appeals
that tend to offer the dream of an ideal Islamic society
free from exploitation and injustice.
Some of them get so ideologically mobilised that they use
violence to target their perceived adversaries and
overwhelm the state system that is viewed as un-Islamic
and unjust. These mobilised people hardly realise that
their sufferings are being exploited by extremist groups
to advance their narrow politico-religious agendas.
These alienated and misguided people can be returned to
society as normal citizens and new recruitment to
militancy can be discouraged provided there is an earnest
effort to reorient the Pakistani state and society. This
is going to be a slow and long-term process.
Dr Hasan-Askari Rizvi is a political and defence
analyst
Viewpoints
Turkey looks east
Erdogan has
since taken to championing the Palestinians' cause, often more
loudly than their fellow Arabs. That had badly strained
Israeli-Turkish relations even before the crisis that blew up
around the Gaza aid flotilla.
Steven R. Hurst
US
President Barack Obama scored two key foreign policy victories
this week - a new round of UN sanctions on Iran even as he
kept Israeli-Palestinian talks on life support after the
Israeli attack on Turkish ship carrying aid to Gaza.
The unintended costs may be heavy.
Both issues threaten key alliances with Muslim Turkey.
And both test the ability of the US and Israel to cope with
Ankara's move out of the Western and NATO orbit toward largely
Islamic regions of the Middle East and Central Asia.
That matters because the United States is losing sway with its
longtime NATO anchor, a democracy that bridges Europe to Asia
and the Middle East.
Israel too is struggling to avoid Turkey's threatened
estrangement - a break that would cost the Jewish state its
only Muslim military ally. Turkey was one of the first
countries to recognize Israel after its establishment more
than six decades ago.
The widening fissures in both alliances likely carry heavier
psychological than strategic implications for the time being,
particularly for Israel.
Here's why.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan "suddenly is the
most popular politician in the Arab world and he doesn't speak
a word of Arabic," asserts Henri Barkey of the Carnegie
Endowment for International Peace.
Erdogan's popularity grew exponentially after the Israeli
commando raid on a Turkish-sanction flotilla of aid ships
bound for Gaza. Muslims across the Middle East are holding him
up as a hero for his tough talk against the Jewish state in
their midst.
That's a stunning reversal. Turks, who migrated into modern
day Turkey from Central Asia centuries ago, had always been
seen in the Arab world as heirs to the Ottoman Empire that had
oppressed Arabs for 400 years.
Erdogan received a thunderous reception from fellow Muslim
leaders Thursday at the Turkish-Arab Economic Forum that
opened with calls for an international investigation of the
May 31 Israeli raid that killed eight Turkish activists and a
Turkish-American teenager.
Erdogan's Justice and Development Party came to power in 2002
in a landslide victory, a clear shift away from Turkey's
secular traditions that were established in the modern state,
the post World War I and shrunken remnant of the Ottoman
Empire.
The political shift was a clear precursor of Turkey's move
toward a more comfortable and powerful place in the Muslim
world, despite continued efforts for membership in the
European Union.
Erdogan has since taken to championing the Palestinians'
cause, often more loudly than their fellow Arabs. That had
badly strained Israeli-Turkish relations even before the
crisis that blew up around the Gaza aid flotilla.
Then there was Turkey's insertion of itself into the effort to
move Iran away from uranium enrichment and its alleged program
to build a nuclear weapon.
After Iran rejected a deal to swap nuclear fuel last fall, the
United States was determined to impose a fourth round of UN
sanctions on Tehran. Washington had the backing of fellow UN
Security Council members France and Britain all along and was
on the verge of announcing that Russia and China also were on
board.
Turkey, with help from Brazil, suddenly announced that it had
revived the swap deal and that Iran had agreed. That
agreement, more than a half-year after initially rejected by
Iran, was deeply flawed.
And the next day the United States said a new sanctions
package had unanimous support from all five permanent Security
Council members. It thanked Turkey for its efforts but said
the train had already left the station.
When the council voted earlier this week, only Turkey and
Brazil cast no votes. Those did little but register protest
since neither country holds a veto.
In spite of its rhetoric and obstructionism, Turkey does not
appear ready any time soon the break fully from the West. It
has vast interests intricately woven into NATO and the
European Union. Turkey has a customs union agreement with its
top-trading partner, Europe, and wants to become part of the
EU.
But there is no doubt that the tone in Turkey's foreign policy
is changing.
Although the United States has been its chief ally since the
Cold War, Turkey opposed the US invasion of Iraq through
Turkish soil, triggering tensions with Washington.
Until the late 1990s, Turkish relations with Iran were tense,
with its secular, westernized government accusing Tehran of
trying to export its radical regime to this predominantly
Muslim but secular country. Today, Turkey wants to build
deeper trade ties with Iran.
Erdogan also is building support for next year's election by
playing the Islam card - one that appeals heavily to
traditionalist, rural and Muslim voters who make up the vast
majority of the electorate.
"This is not being driven by foreign affairs," said Jonathan
Adelman, professor at the University of Denver.
"Erdogan is winning points at home - going back to the
country's Muslim roots."
Why China
agreed to sanctions?
The diplomatic sting for Tehran in this case is Beijing
and Moscow agreeing to the sanctions that specifically
target Iran's shipping, financial and defence sectors.
Faryal Leghari
Returning
to the Gulf on the eve of the new Iranian sanctions after
a very interesting trip to China has been an eye opener.
The forecast here is gloomy despite the blistering sun.
While the UN Security Council has now imposed yet another
round of sanctions on Iran, one wonders at the futility of
the whole exercise. Before getting into the intricacies of
reasoning, it may be worthwhile to assess the implications
for Tehran before moving on to other things.
The diplomatic sting for Tehran in this case is Beijing
and Moscow agreeing to the sanctions that specifically
target Iran's shipping, financial and defence sectors. The
good news is that it has been spared a bigger blow to its
energy sector. Apparently, China and Russia both blocked
the US efforts to include Iran's oil and gas industry from
the gallows. Good news indeed, since Iranian people are
already battling a hard economic situation. While Iranian
President Mahmoud Ahmadenijad has expressed his ire at
Moscow for toeing the US line, he is yet to face a bigger
fallout with strategic defence deals being laid to rest as
per the sacrosanct requisites of the sanctions.
Would that impact Tehran? Yes, it would certainly pinch
for it would hamper its defence ambitions of boosting its
anti-missile capability, of adding to its already
impressive military hardware resources, of facing
financial and trade repercussions, of facing restrictions
when importing certain components that may be utilised in
developing nuclear weapons. But it would not dent Iranian
resolve to continue enrichment of uranium and pursue its
(civilian as claimed by Tehran) nuclear programme, gung
ho. Iran is now hell bent on defiance, come what may.
After all, if Pakistan and India went ahead and achieved
their coveted nuclear weapons despite international
condemnation, sanctions and whatsoever, they have been
accepted back in the fold and are being dealt with on the
footing of nuclear weapon states-albeit non- signatories
of the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty, NPT. India, in
fact, as the new US strategic partner has even managed to
evince a civilian nuclear deal from Washington.
The argument against Iran, that being a member of the NPT
it was thus accountable for its illegal uranium enrichment
seems to have lost its punch. It is stale and makes its
case only for the sanctions portfolio. After all, Iran
agreed only weeks before to a nuclear fuel deal initiated
by Turkey and Brazil, one but swept under the carpet by
Washington. No, it did not count since Iran had had the
audacity to not agree to the deal proposed last year. To
cut a long story short, Iran will now face the music and
the international community must now prepare for the
consequences for pushing Iran to an irreversible position,
far into a corner where it has no option but to fight
back.
So where does that leave Iranian foreign policy towards
its uneasy allies that seem to have abandoned it on a
precarious cliff. As far as China is concerned, it has
made its position very clear. It may have signed on the
dotted line of sanctions but it continues to highly value
its relations with Iran. It is a clear message to Tehran
that China will continue its relations at least in other
sectors. The prudent thing for Tehran would be not to
embroil in acrimony with both Moscow and China but to
engage in some hectic diplomacy to find a median.
China's issuance of assurance for Iran is important. It
comes post-sanctions and is indicative of how China would
like to balance its foreign policy perspective. Having
held detailed discussions with some government officials
and analysts at key think tanks, I arrived at a conclusion
that China follows a highly pragmatic, responsible and
far-sighted policy. This is especially true of its policy
implementation in juggling a balance in the highly
volatile Middle East. While it enjoys good relations with
Israel it also supports the Palestine cause. Based on its
policy of non-intervention in other countries domestic
affairs, China has maintained a distance unlike other
powers and refrains from meddling in internal politics.
For example Beijing hosted a Hamas delegation in 2006 as
representative of an elected Palestinian government, but
it maintains that Palestinian infighting is an internal
matter-one it hopes the factions will be able to resolve
in order to achieve the goal of a separate Palestinian
state. Similarly, while developing and strengthening its
economic and political relations with the Gulf States
especially Saudi Arabia and UAE -being its principal oil
and trade partners in the region-it has maintained strong
ties with Iran.
In retrospect, the discussions in China on the latest UN
sanctions take on added significance. What I learnt in
Beijing is, that China was hopeful that the opportunity
presented through the Turkish-Brazil nuclear fuel deal
should not be lost. It was clearly not advocating
sanctions. In fact, the overriding perception was that
talking about sanctions at this point was not a viable
proposition and would only negate the objective of
deterrence. So then why did China agree to these
sanctions? Agreed, they are watered down and clearly give
Iran a wide berth on the energy sector but the fact
remains that China is party to it. An interesting report
in the International Herald Tribune recently spoke of
Israeli delegations engaging intensely with Beijing in
convincing the economic superpower of the perils of giving
the Iranians a free hand. Apparently, the Israelis drew a
scenario that forecast a perilous impact on the Gulf oil
production and strategic shipping lanes in case of a
military strike on Iran. Sanctions were thus the safe way
out. Since China is heavily focusing on ensuring energy
security for its vital strategic imports from the Gulf, it
probably made its decision within the parameters of the
evolving dynamics. It may have played a crucial hand at
actually obviating a possible military strike against Iran
and done its best to avoid an economic and political
catastrophe whose fallout would radiate far and beyond the
Gulf.
In my view, even Russia is likely to undertake efforts to
repair its relations with Iran despite the hurdles. The
question is how both Russia and China will react in case
of a military strike instigated by Tel Aviv if it declares
sanctions as ineffective in achieving its goal. It may be
wiser for both Beijing and Moscow to get Tel Aviv and
Washington to understand that any such step will bear
disastrous consequences not only for the region but for
the rest of the world. It may be wise to continue
diplomatic engagement to break the impasse and to make
clear that any future unilateral strike against Iran will
not be tolerated or supported.
Faryal Leghari is Assistant Editor of Khaleej Times.
Development aid in five easy steps
Each year, nearly nine million children die of conditions
that could be prevented or treated, and nearly 400,000
women die because of complications during pregnancy.
Jeffrey D. Sachs
Every
country, rich and poor, should ensure universal coverage
of primary healthcare, including safe childbirth,
nutrition, vaccines, malaria control, and clinical
services. Each year, nearly nine million children die of
conditions that could be prevented or treated, and nearly
400,000 women die because of complications during
pregnancy.
Almost all of these deaths are in the world's poorest
countries. Ending these deaths would not only reduce
suffering, but would also unleash economic prosperity in
impoverished and unstable societies.
The greatest barrier to doing so is that the poorest
countries can't afford universal primary healthcare, even
though the cost per person is very low. Using
immunisations, modern medicines, state-of-the-art
diagnostics, mobile phones, and other new technologies,
universal primary healthcare is now highly effective and
very inexpensive, costing around $54 per person per year
in the poorest countries. Yet, because of their very low
incomes, the poorest countries can afford only around $14
per person from their national budgets. Financial help
from abroad is needed to cover roughly $40 per person per
year. With approximately one billion impoverished people
still lacking primary healthcare, the total sum needed is
around $40 billion per year. Foreign donors - including
the United States, the European Union, and Japan - are
currently contributing around one-third of that, roughly
$14 billion per year.
The remaining annual financial gap is therefore about $26
billion. With that money, the lives of many millions of
mothers and children would be saved each year.
This is not a lot of money for the rich countries, but
they fail to come up with it. The most obvious gap is in
the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria,
a global initiative to help the poorest countries fight
these killer diseases. The Global Fund is desperately
short of money, yet the Obama administration and other
governments are not responding to the financial need.
The rich countries could easily come up with the money.
First, the US could end its expensive and failed war in
Afghanistan, which is costing around $100 billion per
year. If the US gave a tiny fraction of that $100 billion
in development aid for Afghanistan, it would be far more
successful in achieving peace and stability in that
war-ravaged country. For example, the US could give $25
billion in development aid each year and another $25
billion for global health, and still save $50 billion each
year to reduce the US budget deficit. Afghanistan, and
hence the US, would be far safer, the world would be far
healthier, and the US economy would benefit enormously.
A second approach would be to tax the big international
banks, which are earning excessive profits on their
speculative trading. Even after Wall Street nearly wrecked
the world economy, the US government coddled and protected
it, enabling its return to huge profits - perhaps $50
billion - last year.
The bankers again paid themselves huge bonuses - more than
$20 billion for 2009. This money should have gone to the
world's poorest people rather than to the bankers, who
certainly did not earn it.
It is time for an international tax on bank profits -
perhaps implemented as a levy on international financial
transactions - which would raise tens of billions of
dollars each year. In pressing the case for such a tax,
the developing countries should not accept the meagre
excuses offered by the US and other countries in order to
protect their bankers.
A third approach would be to obtain increased
contributions from the world's richest people. Several of
them, including Bill Gates, George Soros, Warren Buffett,
and Jeffrey Skoll, are already mega-philanthropists,
committing huge sums for the world's good. Yet other
billionaires have yet to make comparable donations.
According to the most recent Forbes list, there are 1,011
billionaires in the world, with a combined net worth of
$3.5 trillion. This means that if each billionaire would
contribute 0.7 per cent of their net worth, the total sum
would be $25 billion per year. Just imagine, 1,000 people
could ensure primary healthcare for one billion
impoverished people.
A fourth approach should be to look to a company like
Exxon-Mobil, which earns billions of dollars each year in
Africa but, according to one of the company's online
reports, spent only around $5 million per year on malaria
control programmes in Africa from 2000 to 2007.
Exxon-Mobil could and should be funding much more of the
continent's urgently needed primary health services,
either out of royalties paid by the company or out of
corporate philanthropic donations.
Fifth, new donor countries, such as Brazil, China, India,
and Korea, have the vision, energy, economic dynamism, and
diplomatic interest to expand their donor support in the
poorest countries, as well as in the poorest parts of
their own countries. If the US and Europe are too
neglectful to do their part, the emerging economies can
and will pick up part of the slack. Fortunately, these new
donors are becoming trusted partners in Africa.
The rich world says that it lacks the money to do more,
but what it lacks is imagination, not resources. The US
should divert its wasteful military spending to new health
financing. The world should implement a global bank tax.
The billionaires should step up their philanthropy. The
oil companies should pay more. New donor countries like
China can fill the financing gap left by the traditional
donor countries.
The money is there. The needs are urgent. The challenge is
one of morality and vision.
The writer is professor of economics and director of
the Earth Institute at Columbia University. ©Project
Syndicate, 2010. www.project-syndicate.org
International
Pakistan drags
feet on new offensive in tribal belt
AFP, Islamabad
Pakistan is buying time in North Waziristan-gathering
intelligence, building alliances and insisting any assault
into the Taliban and Al-Qaeda fortress take place at its
own time and choosing.
Part of the tribal belt on the Afghan border, North
Waziristan is home to 350,000 people but considered a
stronghold for the most dangerous militants in the world
and largely impenetrable.
It is also a rumoured hiding place of Osama bin Laden.
Commanders are walking a tightrope, balancing US pressure
for action against fears that a major push into the
hornet's nest would make enemies they cannot beat and drag
Pakistan into a new wave of violence.
"The army is already over-stretched after carrying out
offensives in other tribal regions," one Pakistani
security official told AFP.
"Security forces got in touch with local tribesmen in a
policy of dialogue and asked them not to harbour any
insurgents, and this policy has worked," he said.
As well as the bin Laden connection, North Waziristan's
mountains are also a refuge for Pakistani Tehreek-e-Taliban
who escaped an offensive in neighbouring South Waziristan
and networks fighting US forces in Afghanistan.
A US drone campaign already trained on North Waziristan
has been stepped up since Pakistani-American Faisal
Shahzad was charged in the United States for plotting an
attempted May 1 bomb attack on New York. Shahzad told
interrogators he had been to the region for bomb training.
Among those using bases in North Waziristan are the
Haqqani network, created by Afghan warlord Jalaluddin
Haqqani and run by his son Sirajuddin; Afghan Taliban;
Pakistani warlord Hafiz Gul Bahadur and his ally Maulvi
Sadiq Noor.
They are blamed by the United States for fuelling the
nearly nine-year insurgency in Afghanistan, for attacking
the 142,000 US-led NATO troops there and for working to
destabilise the Western-backed government in Kabul.
But they are also men whom the Pakistani security
establishment believes pose no direct risk to the homeland
because their activities are targeted across the border,
while homegrown Taliban pose a more immediate threat.
Karzai appeals for
support in southern Afghanistan
AFP, Kandahar, Afghanistan
Afghan President Hamid Karzai Sunday appealed to hundreds
of tribal and religious leaders to support a major
operation in their southern province, the heartland of a
Taliban insurgency.
Karzai, accompanied by top NATO commander US General
Stanley McChrystal, held talks with representatives and
residents in Kandahar about renewed efforts to bring
stability to the war-weary province.
"Right now the life of Kandahar is a very bad life,"
Karzai said in a speech to the shura, a traditional
council gathering, in a stuffy conference hall in Kandahar
city.
"I need to start the operation to clean up the enemy. We
need your help and support," he said. Karzai's pleas were
largely well received by the group, the majority of whom
applauded and stood to raise their hands when he asked for
their support.
Many of the 30,000 troops US President Barack Obama
ordered to Afghanistan late last year are heading to
Kandahar, the birthplace of the Taliban movement and a
hotbed of bombings, assassinations and lawlessness. The
Kandahar operation promises to be a major test of foreign
alliance efforts to bring a quick end to the nearly
nine-year war against increasingly emboldened insurgents.
Karzai expressed condolences for the 50 people killed in
the province in a Wednesday suicide bombing at a wedding,
which was blamed on the Taliban, and called on the
militants to renounce violence. "Tell the people to be
part of the solution... Let's cooperate, let's
coordinate," he told the crowd.
Karzai's spokesman Waheed Omar said the president would
use the Kandahar visit to stress to wary locals the
campaign in the troubled area was a "process of
stabilisation", rather than a major military offensive.
Although McChrystal accompanied Karzai's delegation,
officials said a series of meetings would focus on local
initiatives to bring improved development and governance
to the area. "Today is about Afghans taking leadership and
ownership of the effort in Kandahar and not just
security," said Lieutenant Colonel Tadd Sholtis, a
spokesman for McChrystal.
Indian Kashmir capital
tense for third day running
AFP, Srinagar, India
Indian police stepped up security in the Kashmiri summer
capital of Srinagar Sunday as tensioned flared for the
third day running over the death of a Muslim teenager.
The 17-year-old was killed in downtown Srinagar Friday
during clashes between anti-India protesters and riot
police and thousands of police and paramilitary sealed off
neighbourhoods to prevent further demonstrations.
On Saturday, over 60 police and protesters were hurt
during day-long clashes across the capital despite
security restrictions imposed by the authorities to block
demonstrations.
"The restrictions will continue and no one will be allowed
to hold protest demonstrations," said Meraj Kakroo,
Srinagar's deputy commissioner.
Residents in downtown Srinagar said vehicles mounted with
loudspeakers had been announcing that a strict curfew was
in force.
"If anyone tries to move out he is beaten up or detained,"
a resident, Farooq Ahmed told AFP over telephone. Police
denied imposing a curfew in some areas. They said "strict
restrictions on civilian movement" were in place to
prevent violence.
The region is in the grip of a 20-year insurgency against
Indian rule. The unrest has left more than 47,000 people
dead by official count. Tensions have been running high in
Kashmir after local police accused the military of killing
three civilians in April.
The army initially said they had killed three armed rebels
but later ordered an inquiry and initiated action against
two officers.
Malaysia probes
British-funded animal testing lab
AFP, Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia is considering shutting down a controversial
British-funded animal testing lab if there is evidence of
cruelty there, the goverment's top veterinary official
said on Sunday.
Animal rights campaigners have accused the Progenix
Research lab, which uses monkeys, dogs, rodents and
rabbits for toxicology testing, of poisoning the animals
to death.
Veterinary Services director Abdul Aziz Jamaludin said the
company will be ordered to shut down if his department
finds animals were subject to abuse, the Sunday Star
newspaper reported.
"If animal testing cannot be conducted in the United
States or Europe, I see no reason why they should be
allowed here," Abdul Aziz was quoted as saying.
Abdul Aziz said animal welfare laws in Malaysia-which is
bidding to become a major biotech hub in Southeast
Asia-were not as stringent as those in developed nations.
But he said there were laws to prosecute those who treated
animals badly, and added that research companies should
use tissue culture rather than animals to conduct tests
for drugs and cosmetics.
"I have got a report (on the animal laboratory) I will act
on it tomorrow when I return," he told AFP from Beijing.
The British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV),
condemned the facility, which is based in the northern
state of Penang and run by the Britain-based Alpha
Biologics.
"We are extremely concerned that a UK company has an
animal laboratory in Malaysia," said Sarah Kite, its
director of special projects.
"These animals are being cruelly used for toxicity testing
in a country where there is no legislation governing their
welfare," she said in a statement. "Animals are quite
literally poisoned to death."
Philippine bus crash kills 18, mostly
Iranians
Internet
A tourist bus packed with Iranian nationals plunged into a
ravine Sunday while negotiating a mountain road in the
central Philippines, killing at least 18 people and
injuring more than 30 others, officials said.
The bus, carrying dozens of mostly Iranian medical
students and doctors, apparently suffered brake failure
then plummeted into a 100-foot (30-meter) ravine in
Balamban town in Cebu province, police Senior
Superintendent Erson Digal said.
At least 18 people, mostly Iranians and including
children, were killed, said regional military spokesman
Lt. Col. Wilson Feria, who was at the scene of the
accident.
Villagers and police pulled at least 10 bodies from the
mangled bus wreckage at the rocky bottom of the ravine.
Several seriously injured passengers were brought to
hospitals, Digal told The Associated Press.
Many of the Iranian victims were medical students in Cebu,
a bustling commercial and tourism center 350 miles (560
kilometers) southeast of Manila. They were identified by
relatives and through their IDs, Digal said.
Feria said it was not clear if the Iranians, who rented
the bus, were involved in a medical mission or went for an
outing at one of several resorts in and around Cebu.
Powerful quake rattles
Indian Ocean islands
AFP, Port Blair, India
A 7.5-magnitude earthquake struck under the Indian Ocean
near India's Nicobar and Andaman Islands early Sunday,
triggering panic on the archipelago and an initial
regional tsunami alert.
The quake shook people from their sleep and briefly
disrupted power supplies, causing alarm on a string of
islands which were hit by the massive 2004 Indian Ocean
tsunami, but there were no reports of casualties or
damage. Tremors were also felt on mainland India, more
than 1,000 kilometres (600 miles) from the epicentre near
India's most easterly territories.
"It was very difficult to leave our home because the
electricity went off and the entire Port Blair plunged
into darkness during the earthquake," tour operator M.
Vinod said from the capital of the Andamans.
The quake struck at 1:26 am (1926 GMT Saturday) at a depth
of 35 kilometres (22 miles), with the epicentre around 160
kilometres west of the Nicobar Islands.
Tsunami warnings issued by the Pacific Tsunami Warning
Center based in Hawaii and India's National Centre for
Ocean Information Services, were later withdrawn when no
change in sea level was reported.
The area is an earthquake hotspot, caused by the meeting
of the Indian tectonic plate with the Burmese microplate
along an area known as the Andaman trench.
Sunday's undersea quake caused alarm as it shook people
from their sleep, with the danger of tsunamis still high
in the minds of local residents after the islands were
badly hit by the 2004 disaster.
A police control room official in Port Blair said there
were efforts to contact remote islands for reports on
possible damage or casualties."So far there has been no
such report," the officer said.
Power supplies were disrupted for up to five minutes in
some 30 other nearby Andaman islands following the quake,
residents and officials said.
Printer Mani Kontho in Port Blair said the earth shook for
about 20 seconds and he fled his home as a precaution,
like many others. On the mainland, many people ran into
the street in the southern coastal city of Chennai as the
quake rattled furniture.
There were no reports of casualties or damage to property,
local media said.
China's Xinjiang
seethes a year after riots: Uighur activist
AFP, Beijing
One year after deadly riots in China's Xinjiang, Beijing
has reaffirmed policies that have angered Muslims in the
region, raising the spectre of further unrest, a top
Uighur activist said.
In an interview with AFP, Ilham Tohti-an outspoken
professor, blogger and member of the Muslim Uighur
minority-said China's "carrot and stick" pairing of
economic development with tight security controls had
failed Uighurs.
It has instead benefited members of China's majority Han
ethnicity who are flooding into the region, while
Xinjiang's eight million Uighurs are becoming further
marginalised in their ancient homeland, with no end in
sight, he said. "The situation for Uighurs in Xinjiang is
increasingly bad," Tohti, 40, said in his modest flat on
the campus of Beijing's Minzu University of China, where
he lectures-under watchful eyes-on economics and Uighur
issues.
"In this climate, it is very hard to bring together
Uighurs and Han, immigrants and locals. This is a huge
problem but the government has come up with no plan for
it."
Xinjiang's Uighurs-a Muslim, Turkic-speaking people-have
for decades alleged Chinese political, religious and
cultural oppression in the vast region abutting Central
Asia. Their anger erupted on July 5 last year when Uighur
rioters savagely attacked Han in the capital Urumqi,
leaving nearly 200 people dead and up to 1,700 injured,
according to official figures.
Amid the unrest, Tohti-perhaps the top Uighur activist
within China-disappeared into police custody for six
weeks.
Authorities also shut down his Uighur Online website-which
criticised government policy in Xinjiang while advocating
Han-Uighur understanding-alleging it was fuelling the
unrest.
Tohti has since relaunched the site on an overseas server,
though it remains blocked in China, and has resumed his
lectures despite periodic interference by the authorities.
He says he carefully measures his words to prevent
provoking the authorities.
Nalini accuses jail
authorities of mistreating her
PTI, New Delhi
Convicted Rajiv Gandhi assassin Nalini Sriharan, who is
serving a life sentence in the Vellore Central Jail, has
accused prison authorities of keeping her in isolation in
violation of norms laid down in the prison manual.
"Prison manual rules regarding rights of prisoners are
being violated by jail authorities in the Vellore Central
Prison while dealing with Nalini," P Pugalenthi, her
counsel in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, told PTI
after visiting her in the jail on Saturday. According to
Pugalenthi, Nalini has been prevented from communicating
with the outside world and even her lawyer.
Reading out form the three-page complaint made by her to
the IG of Prisons requesting to be shifted to Puzhal jail,
Pugalenthi said.
N Korea’s son could face
ruinous inheritance: Analysts
AFP, Seoul
North Korea's ailing leader Kim Jong-Il appears to be
paving the way for his youngest son Jong-Un to take over
in what would be the hardline communist state's second
dynastic succession.
But barring a dramatic change of course, Jong-Un seems set
to inherit a hungry, impoverished and sanctions-hit nation
still locked in confrontation with the West over its
nuclear ambitions. Some analysts say the current regime is
becoming increasingly unpredictable as Kim, 68, battles
health problems and the economy crumbles.
A reshuffle announced June 8 saw Kim's brother-in-law Jang
Song-Thaek, who acts as mentor to the young Jong-Un,
appointed as a vice-chairman of the top decision-making
body the National Defence Commission. The move shows the
North "is formalising and finalising its planned
father-to-son power transfer", said Paik Haksoon of
Seoul's Sejong Institute think-tank. It was unclear when
Kim would step down. But Paik predicted the son would be
formally designated as eventual successor in 2012, the
year the country has set for becoming a "great, powerful
and prosperous" nation. In the meantime, prosperity is a
mirage.
The North suffered famine in the mid-1990s which killed
hundreds of thousands of people and it still grapples with
severe food shortages. The UN children's fund estimates
one third of children are stunted by malnutrition. "North
Korea is now in a dire situation, with its economy almost
bankrupt and resources depleted," said Korea University
professor Yoo Ho-Yeol. "Sanctions and failed policies have
aggravated food shortages and difficulties in other
sectors," Yoo told AFP. "It has no other option but to
introduce Chinese-style (economic) reforms for survival
but its leadership is afraid of doing so, as seen in its
failed currency reform."
The state food distribution system collapsed during the
famine and North Koreans began having to use their wits to
stay alive. Free markets sprang up and were condoned for a
time.
Turkish
PM says Gaza embargo must end
Reuters, Istanbul
Muslim leaders rallied round Turkey at a regional summit
on Monday, backing their host's call for Israel to end its
blockade of Gaza immediately and face international
punishment for its deadly raid on an aid ship. Israel's
storming of the Turkish ship and killing of nine Turks a
week ago has loomed over the Eurasian and Middle East
security talks in Istanbul, which began on Monday and will
move to a full summit on Tuesday. "The time has come to
lift the embargo on Gaza," Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip
Erdogan told a joint news conference with Syria's
President Bashar al-Assad of Syria.
"We don't want an open air prison in the world any more."
Once close allies, Israel and Turkey's relations have been
on a downward spiral since Erdogan began championing the
Palestinian cause after an Israeli offensive in Gaza in
2008.
The Turkish leader has said Israel would have to pay for
killing Turks in the botched commando raid.
"Israel has to pay the bill for the blood that has been
shed by the martyrs," said Erdogan, who has become a folk
hero in the Middle East for his attacks on Israel. The
Syrian leader pledged to support Turkey in action and
words in its campaign for an end to the blockade.
"I would like to say Turkish blood is not different from
Arab blood," Assad said.
"Our blood is one, and this combination will eliminate the
blockade of Gaza." Turkey received messages from support
from other Muslim countries, including Afghanistan,
Azerbaijan, Iran, Pakistan, Qatar and, of course,
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas.
"Pakistan condemned in the strongest possible terms the
unjustified aggression shown towards the freedom
flotilla," Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi
said. "We stand by you."
It is doubtful whether the final declaration by the
Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA)
forum will contain a condemnation of Israel, as the
wording has to be reached by consensus, and Israel is a
member. Though it decided against exposing any senior
official to Turkey's fury at an international forum,
Israel was represented by its consulate-general. CICA
includes a diverse group of 20 countries, but many other
countries' leaders, like Assad, have come as guests.
While not expecting much from CICA, Turkey is using the
chance to gather diplomatic support against Israel.
On Wednesday, Arab League foreign ministers are due to
meet in Istanbul for talks with their Turkish counterpart.
"MAKING UP LIES"
Israel has rejected a proposal by U.N. Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon for a multi-national investigation and said it
had the right to launch its own inquiry. It has said its
forces acted in self-defence after they were set upon by
pro-Palestinian activists wielding clubs and knives.
Erdogan dismissed Israeli allegations that some of the aid
workers on board the Mavi Marmara aid ship had militant
links.
Mobs burn villages,
slaughter Uzbeks in Kyrgyzstan
AP, Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyz mobs burned Uzbek villages, slaughtered their
residents and stormed police stations seeking to loot more
weapons Sunday as ethnic rioting engulfed new areas in
southern Kyrgyzstan.
The interim government in the impoverished Central Asian
nation ordered troops to shoot rioters dead but even that
has failed to stop the spiraling violence which has left
more 100 people dead and over 1,100 wounded since Thursday
night.
Doctors and rights activists say that official toll is far
too low because wounded minority Uzbeks are too afraid of
being attacked again to go to hospitals.
The riots are the worst violence since former President
Kurmanbek Bakiyev was ousted in a bloody uprising in April
and fled the country. The Uzbeks have backed the interim
government, while many Kyrgyz in the south had support the
toppled president.
Thousands of Uzbeks have fled in panic to the nearby
border with Uzbekistan after their homes were torched by
roving mobs of Kyrgyz men. Some Uzbek women and children
were gunned down as they tried to escape, witnesses said.
Fires set by rioters have destroyed most of Osh, the
country's second-largest city, and looters have stolen
most of its food.
Triumphant crowds of Kyrgyz men took control of most of
Osh on Sunday while the few Uzbeks still in the city of
250,000 barricaded themselves in their neighborhoods.
The rampages spread quickly Sunday to Jalal-Abad, another
major southern city, and its neighboring villages, as mobs
methodically set Uzbek houses, stores and cafes on fire.
The rioters seized an armored vehicle and automatic
weapons at a local military unit and attacked police
stations around the region trying to get more firearms.
Police and the military appeared to be on the defensive
across the south, avoiding clashes with mobs.
Interim President Roza Otunbayeva blamed Bakiyev's family
for instigating the unrest in Osh, saying it was aimed at
derailing a constitutional referendum on June 27 and new
elections scheduled for October. A local official said
Bakiyev supporters had attacked both Kyrgyz and Uzbeks to
ignite the rioting.
Arab League chief
condemns Gaza siege on landmark visit
AFP, Gaza City
Arab League chief Amr Mussa called Sunday for Israel's
four-year siege on the Gaza Strip to be broken as he made
a landmark visit to the impoverished Palestinian enclave.
The visit, Mussa's first to Gaza as Arab League secretary
general, comes as calls mount for the opening of Gaza's
borders after Israeli commandos killed nine Turkish
activists when they raided a Gaza-bound aid flotilla on
May 31.
"This blockade, which we are all here to confront, must be
broken and the position of the Arab League is clear,"
Mussa said after being welcomed at the Rafah border
crossing with Egypt by officials from many Palestinian
factions.
"Not only the Arabs, but the entire world should stand
with the Palestinian people against the siege of Gaza and
what is happening in the occupied territories, especially
east Jerusalem," he said, referring to Jewish settlement
growth in the annexed Arab half of the city.
It was the first time that Mussa visited the besieged
coastal strip since he became the head of the 22-member
pan-Arab organisation in 2001.
The 10-hour visit, announced shortly after the deadly
flotilla raid, was aimed at "showing solidarity with the
Palestinian people" in the face of the blockade and to
urge greater efforts to reconcile deeply divided
Palestinian factions, Mussa's aide Hisham Yussef told AFP
last week.
Gaza was taken over by Hamas in June 2007 after the
Islamist movement ousted the secular Fatah faction of
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.
Speaking to journalists at the crossing, Mussa reiterated
calls for Hamas and Fatah to resolve their differences.
Iran aid ships for Gaza
awaiting ministry nod
AFP, Tehran
An Iranian Red Crescent official said in a report on
Sunday that two aid ships organised by the humanitarian
group were ready and awaiting foreign ministry approval to
leave for Gaza.
"We are ready but are awaiting permission from the foreign
ministry given the political, military and security
conditions in the region," Mojtaba Majd, a senior Red
Crescent official, was quoted as telling Mehr news agency.
Separately the Red Crescent said that of the two ships,
the one carrying foodstuffs and medicines was expected to
leave this week.
Majd said more than 100,000 Iranians have registered to go
to Gaza as volunteers on the second ship, but added only
those "who have some expertise" would be sent to the
Palestinian territory.
He said however that volunteers may not even be sent given
the conditions in the region, while adding that "the
important issue is that the people of Gaza know that more
than 100,000 Iranians are ready to come to their help."
The Iranian Red Crescent said on Monday it would send a
total of three aid ships to Gaza, two of them by Friday
and one at a later date, in what is seen as an attempt to
break the blockade imposed on the territory by Israel.
It said it will also send a plane carrying 30 tonnes of
medical equipment to Egypt for onward delivery to Gaza.
The fate of the aid plane was unknown Sunday.
The Iranian Red Crescent had previously sent an aid ship
carrying food and medicines to Gaza in December 2008 but
it was prevented from reaching the territory by the
Israeli navy.
Obama walks oil-spill
tightrope, political fallout looms
AFP, Washington
President Barack Obama has been forced to adapt his agenda
to the endless challenge of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill,
which threatens to sully him politically as experts
struggle round-the-clock to find a fix.
Next week, Obama had scheduled visits to Indonesia and
Australia to follow up on a speech to Muslims he made in
Cairo in 2009 and to celebrate the US-Australian strategic
alliance, but the unfolding disaster for the second time
scuppered his plans.
Instead, Obama Monday and Tuesday will make his fourth
visit to US states facing the worst environmental
catastrophe in US history.
On his return to Washington, Obama on Wednesday will meet
with British Petroleum chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg for
the first time since the Deeepwater Horizon oil rig blew
up and sank April 20-22 killing 11 workers and triggering
a massive oil gusher.
Obama has spared BP no criticism on how it is handling the
oil spill, to the detriment of the special US-British
relationship. On Saturday, however, he reassured British
Prime Minister David Cameron that all was well between
their two nations.
In a call to Cameron, Obama said his criticism of BP was
not aimed at Britain and that "frustrations about the oil
spill had nothing to do with national identity," a
spokesman for the prime minister's Downing Street office
said.
As the bad news from the oil spill keeps coming -- the
estimated daily oil leak recently doubled up to 40,000
barrels, the Obama administration's "hands are to some
degree tied," said Fordham University's political science
department chairman Jeffrey Cohen.
"Nobody seems to have a good idea about how to stop this
leak, and now we're waiting months before a relief well"
reaches the broken pipe to divert the oil to surface ships
and plug up the leak with cement -- expected at the
earliest in August, Cohen said.
Belgium votes amid
fears of a national split
AFP, Brussels
Belgian voters voted in legislative elections on Sunday,
with a predicted strong showing for Flemish separatists
hiking concerns of moves to split the country along its
linguistic faultline.
The independence-minded NVA and its 39-year-old Bart De
Wever can expect some 25 percent of the vote in Belgium's
richer, Dutch-speaking region of Flanders in the north of
the country, according to the pre-vote polls, Add fellow
separatist groups and the vote regionally stacks up at 40
percent, the kind of figure to send shivers down the
spines of federalist politicians in the poorer
French-speaking region of Wallonia to the south. There the
socialists were the pre-vote favourites with opinion polls
giving them at least 30 percent of the vote there. "A
turning point for Belgium," opined the Derniere Heure
daily.
Inside an advert for a new 'A Team' action film was headed
jokingly "The only team that could still save Belgium!"
Despite the tensions, the local Belga news agency reported
no untoward incidents at polling stations in the morning.
However at one of the flashpoint Flemish suburbs of
Brussels a group of 20 protesters brandished banners
calling for "a Flemish president" just as EU president and
former Belgian prime minister Herman Van Rompuy arrived to
cast his vote.
An electoral breakthrough by the Flemish radicals could
lead to lengthy political horse-trading before any stable
coalition government can be formed in a country where only
the Brussels capital region is officially bilingual.
That leaves the prospect of Belgium, which prides itself
on hosting the European Union's headquarters, assuming the
rotating EU presidency next month without a fully
functioning government itself.
It took months after the last legislative elections in
2007 for a five-party coalition to emerge. Analysts fear
any duplication could lead to further radicalisation and
bring the spectre of an eventual split into stark focus.
Palin, Clinton score with
primary endorsements
AFP, Washington
US primary candidates backed by Sarah Palin and Bill
Clinton notched up victories or cheated political death
this week, reopening a debate on whether superstar
endorsements really sway voters.
The evidence is inconclusive, and even Palin -- a former
Alaska governor turned darling of the archconservative
"Tea Party" insurgency -- cast doubt on what she called
"way overblown" claims that she made the difference.
"Perhaps an endorsement can shift just a tiny bit of
momentum in some cases, and I think that's what we saw.
But it certainly wasn't me as an individual," she told Fox
News Channel the day after the "Super Tuesday" primaries.
Palin, a possible White House contender in 2012, seems at
the very least least a skilled forecaster of political
success, as three of the four candidates she backed in
this week's contests came out ahead of their rivals.
In Iowa, home to the first-in-the-nation presidential
caucuses, Palin endorsed former governor Terry Branstad in
his bid to reclaim his old job -- at a time when public
opinion polls showed him in the lead by up to 28 points.
He ended up winning by fewer than 10 points, but is
heavily favored to win in November, when US voters will
fill 435 House seats, 36 Senate spots, and 37 state
governorships.
In California, Palin backed former Hewlett-Packard chief
executive Carly Fiorina when she was already favored to be
the Republican challenger to Democratic Senator Barbara
Boxer, who enjoys a slight edge in the polls.
Business/Economy
Budget
progressive and pro-growth: FBCCI
BSS, Dhaka
Leaders of the Federation of Bangladesh Chamber of
Commerce and Industries (FBCCI) on Sunday termed the
proposed budget for fiscal 2010-11 as progressive and
pro-growth as well as implementable one.
"Its not at all an ambitious budget but its qualitative
implementation seems a challenge of the government," FBCCI
president Annisul Huq said at a post-budget press
conference at a city hotel.
The FBCCI president said the business community has
greeted the budget saying it's a pro-growth budget
considering the size of Annual Development prorgamme (ADP)
and huge allocation for the development of the human
resource and power sector.
"But we have some observations and would like to share our
views with the government about the macro economic
financial policies of the proposed budget," he said.
Huq said the business community believes the crisis of
energy and power sector would be reduced if the government
could successfully implement its five-year action plan as
per the proposed budget.
"We also welcomed the proposed allocation of Taka 3000
crore as well as forming a new policy for increasing
Public-Private Partnership," he said, adding, "we believe
under the new policy of PPP and the proposed budget the
development activities will gain a new pace with huge
participation of the private sector."
The FBCCI also thanked the government for allocating Taka
1600 crore to the Bangladesh Infrastructure Finance Fund
as well as keeping the stimulus package and allocating
Taka 2000 crore to it for the business community in the
backdrop of regaining the global economic recession.
However, the business community believes that policies
about building economic zones and industrial clusters need
to be formulated before finalizing the proposed budget for
implementing the government vision of turning the country
into a middle income one.
Huq said they observed that the proposal of increasing the
amount of import tax and value added tax (VAT) at
different sectors in the new budget may trigger the
inflation rate.
Referring to the proposed increase of Advance Income Tax
on import as import duty on various products, Annisul Huq
said government should increase the amount of tax in a
sustainable way not creating pressure on the business
community.
"We are not against the raising of tax, we would like to
request the government to increase the tax net not the tax
depth," he said.
He said that the business community would talk with the
government about various aspects of budget with their set
of recommendations to reduce the amount of import duty and
VAT.
FBCCI First Vice President Abul Kashem Ahmed, Director
Abdul Huq and President of Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and
Industries Abul Kashem Khan and President candidate for
the next committee A K Azad were also present among
others.
Budget
‘people-friendly’ : BEA
UNB, Dhaka
Bangladesh Economics Association (BEA) on Sunday expressed
satisfaction about the proposed budget for the 2010-2011
fiscal, terming it a 'people-friendly' budget by the
government.
"For the first time, many positive plans are included in
the proposed budget 2010-2011 and we can consider it
indicating a charter of change. The proposed budget will
be a roadmap to achieve the Vision 2021," BEA president
Prof Abul Barakat said at a press conference at the BEA
auditorium in the city this (Sunday) afternoon.
Bangladesh Economics Association (BEA) organized the press
conference titled 'The Budget 2010-2011 fiscal: Reaction
and Recommendation'.
Speaking on the occasion, Abul Barakat said the government
has taken plans through the budget 2010-2011 to distribute
khas land among the landless families of the country.
"The proposed budget said that some 5534 acres of khas
land will be leased among the 34,532 landless poor
families in this fiscal year. Apart from eliminating
poverty, the agriculture production will be increased
through this step," he said.
He proposed formulating a 'Land Reform Commission' to
lease the khas land among landless families to increase
agriculture production and achieve food security for the
country.
Referring to the challenge of implementing the proposed
budget, Abul Barakat said cost of doing business will be
reduced for attracting investment in the country. "In an
open market economy, corruption is inherent. Corruption
cannot be removed, but it has to be reduced for
implementing the proposed budget."
Highlighting the proposed budget, he said: "We do not want
any changes to the proposed allocation of the Annual
Development Programme (ADP) in fiscal 2010-2011. If any
change comes in the ADP, our assumptions will be in
disarray."
Replying to a query, the BEA president said that the
proposed budget emphasized setting up rental power plants
to address the electricity crisis immediately.
Earlier, BEA general secretary Dr. Tawfique Ahmed
Chowdhury read out a written statement and put forward
several recommendations at the press conference.
The recommendations include formulating a taskforce by
involving biggest 10 ministries to implement the ADP,
reducing cost of doing business, increasing social safety
net allocation in proposed budget, formulating a Land
Reform Commission and introducing agriculture insurance.
Stocks make new
record on post-budget trading
BSS, Dhaka
Dhaka stocks made new record today on a post-budget
buoyant trading that began with a positive response to the
proposed fiscal policy measures.
Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith on Thursday
proposed an allocation of over Taka 6,000 crore for the
power sector's development.
He also proposed a number of tax measures for investing in
the stock market, but kept individual investors out of any
new tax net.
The proposed substantial allocation to the power sector
would encourage investors in share market to bet more on
power and energy related companies. This will result in
further surge in the prices of these issues.
The decision for not imposing gain tax on individual share
investors has brought an end to the wild speculation of
its adverse impact in the market.
Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) authorities also praised the
decision, which gave investors a respite from the fear of
tax. This positive atmosphere helped the DSE index make a
new record at close of the first post-budget trading day.
The index finished at a new high of 6332.68, gaining by
77.98 points or 1.16 percent from Thursday's closing.
The daily turnover also increased significantly to Taka
2,205 crore from last week's closing of Taka 2,055 crore.
Besides the power and energy companies, banking and
financial sectors' issues propelled the surge in the index
and the turnover.
Germany can emerge as top export
destination for BD products
UNB, Dhaka
Commerce Minister Faruk Khan on Sunday said that Germany
could emerge as the top export destination for Bangladeshi
products.
"Among the Bangladeshi export items to Germany, ready made
garments, pharmaceuticals and the ship building sector
harbour great potential. By increasing the export of these
items, Germany could be the highest export destination for
Bangladesh," he said.
The Commerce Minister was addressing the luncheon meeting
of the Bangladesh - German Chamber of Commerce & Industry
(BGCCI) as chief guest at a city hotel on Sunday. He said
that Germany is now the 2nd largest importer of
Bangladeshi products.
Faruk Khan also urged the Bangladeshi businessmen living
in Germany to invest more in Bangladesh citing the
country's skilled manpower, investment-friendly government
policy and business-friendly working environment.
Chaired by BGCCI president Saiful Islam, the luncheon
meeting was addressed, among others, by German Embassy
councilor and Deputy Head of Mission Rolf Dieter Reinhard
and BGCCI executive director Daniel Seidl.
The BGCCI leaders presented different initiatives taken by
them to boost trade and investment between Bangladesh and
Germany.
It is mentionable that the trade balance between the two
countries is in favour of Bangladesh as Bangladeshi export
totaled US $ 2269.75 million in Germany in the 2008-09
fiscal, which is 14.58 percent of the country's total
export.
During the period, the import from Germany amounted US $
410.44 million. The main export items to Germany are
knitwear, woven garment, home textile, shrimp, footwear
(leather), pharmaceuticals, jute yarn, ceramic table wear,
bicycle and jute-made goods. On the other hand, Bangladesh
imports vegetable products, vegetable fats and oil,
mineral products, plastic articles, textile and textile
articles, footwear, base metals and articles, vehicles and
optical from Germany.
Japan’s finance minister pledges
spending review
AFP, Tokyo
Japanese Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda on Sunday renewed
the government's pledge to review fiscal policy to reduce
the country's mounting debts amid lingering worries over
sovereign risks.
After decades of stimulus spending and low tax receipts,
Japan's public debt is now nearly double its gross
domestic product, forcing the government to issue more
bonds to pay for hefty outlays.
"It's in the national interest to draw a blueprint for
fiscal restoration. Let's discuss it together," Noda told
opposition leader Sadakazu Tanigaki during a television
programme.
Prime Minister Naoto Kan on Friday pledged a fiscal policy
overhaul to reduce the massive public debt mountain in the
world's second biggest economy, warning of a Greece-style
meltdown.
Renho, the minister in charge of government revitalisation,
who goes by one name, said Sunday that Japan's government
"finance is said to be nearly (in) default. It's my role
to overhaul the budget which has long relied on debts."
Gross public debt is to hit 200 percent of Japan's gross
domestic product, or around 950 trillion yen (over 10
trillion dollars), calculated based on fiscal 2010's
nominal GDP of 475 trillion yen.
Kan, a fiscal hawk, took over earlier this month from
Yukio Hatoyama, who resigned over damaging money scandals
and after reneging on an election promise to move an
unpopular US airbase off the island of Okinawa.
There are hopes that Kan and Noda can guide Japan out of
crippling deflation and defuse a potential timebomb of
public debt, with the risk of an explosion illustrated by
Europe's current fiscal crisis, analysts have said.
China, Taiwan
hold third round of trade talks
AFP, Beijing
China and Taiwan on Sunday held a third round of
negotiations for a major trade pact in a bid to seal the
deal this month.
Experts from the two sides will discuss during the one-day
meeting in Beijing the main content of the Economic
Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA), the state Xinhua
news agency said.
The ECFA is intended to normalise China-Taiwan economic
ties and bring the two economies closer, Xinhua said. The
first round of talks took place in January in Beijing and
the second two months later in Taipei.
Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government, which says the deal
will boost growth and employment, has been pushing to sign
the agreement in June. However, the two sides were "stuck"
in negotiations, Taiwan's premier said Saturday, in the
latest sign that they may miss this month's deadline.
"We are stuck on some items as certain Taiwanese
industries will lose their competitiveness without tariff
reductions but some Chinese industries are concerned about
the impact," Wu Den- yih said in a statement.
The pact is expected to include a list of industries that
will benefit first from preferential tariffs, as well as
measures on protecting intellectual property rights,
according to Taipei officials.
Four new private
banks to emerge in Myanmar
Xinhua, Yangon
Myanmar authorities have granted permission to four giant
private entrepreneurs to open four new private banks in
the country respectively, bankers circle said on Sunday.
The four giant entrepreneurs are U Tay Za (Htoo trading
company group), U Zaw Zaw (Max Myanmar Co. Ltd), U Nay
Aung (IGE) and U Chit Khine (Ayedin Co. Ltd).
There are 15 private banks in operation in Myanmar, 13 of
which are located in the former capital city of Yangon.
Private banks were once nationalized in Myanmar in 1963
during the previous government but after the country
started to adopt the market-oriented economic system in
late 1988, private banks were allowed to operate again
since 1992.
Myanmar has introduced a banking network system in some
six banks in the country to interlink state and private
banks to facilitate traders for banking transactions,
according to the Bankers Association.
S Korea
tightens rules on foreign currency
AFP, Seoul
South Korea's finance ministry on Sunday announced
tightened regulations on foreign exchange transactions to
stabilise its volatile finances.
The new measures, which take effect from July, are the
latest of Seoul's efforts to regulate foreign capital
flows and the fluctuating won.
The ministry said in a statement it would limit South
Korean financial institutions' forward currency positions
to 50 percent of their equity capital and that of foreign
banks operating here to 250 percent.
Banks in South Korea, Asia's fourth largest economy, can
now take almost limitless positions in the forward market
if they take offsetting positions in spot, according to
the ministry. Volatile forwards, or contracts where
traders can buy or sell currencies at a future date, are
often blamed for destabilising the market.
The ministry said forward positions of the foreign banks
in South Korea averaged around 300 percent-higher than the
new ceiling-as of April 30.
Huge positions in the forward market could make the won
even more susceptible to big swings as banks or firms
adjust their exposure during the periods of volatility.
The won has slumped around 10 percent in the past three
months, hitting 1,271.45 per dollar last Thursday, the
weakest since May 25, data show.
GMG introduces new state-of-the-art Reservation and
Departure Control System
UNB, Dhaka
GMG Airlines, one of the country's largest private
carriers, has introduced a new state-of-the-art
reservation, host and departure control system to improve
the efficiency of the airline and provide faster and
reliable service to its customers and agents.
GMG is upgrading its reservation and departure control
system as a part of its modernization plan to transform
GMG into a most preferred airline in the sub-continent,
says Christian Heinzmann, Chief Executive Officer of GMG.
He said the system 'MARS & MACS' owned and developed by
MERCATOR, the IT arm of Emirates Airlines, became
operational at 0200 hrs GMT (8:00 am BST) today.
"It's an automated computerized reservations system (CRS)
which is used as a reservation system by many airlines in
the world today for inventory hosting. With MARS, we have
developed links with all major Global Distribution Systems
(GDS) namely Galileo, Amadeus, Sabre, Abacus, Worldspan
and Apollo allowing the access to GMG's inventory through
the travel agencies worldwide," explained Ajith
Weerasekera, Chief Commercial Officer.
The departure control system (DCS) MACS, will automate the
entire process of GMG's airport management. This includes
mechanizing and managing the information required for
airport check-in including special services as per today's
requirements of the modern air traveler. GMG in the very
near future will be able to manage electronic tickets via
interfaces from a range of devices such as cellular
phones, check-in kiosk, online check-in, boarding cards
and baggage handling through this DCS system.
The management of GMG Airlines believes this quick
reservation host system and departure control system will
help them to serve their valued customers and agents
efficiently and reliably. Furthermore, this new system
will reduce the time and cost for, the company as well as
their customers and agents. The airline has recently
re-launched its operations by unveiling a strikingly
vivacious colour-burst new logo which represents the
metamorphosis of a beautiful butterfly spreading its
colourful wings with a new vibrant beginning.
GMG has recently introduced a wide body Boeing 767-300ER
into its fleet to provide better services to its customers
and is in the process of modernizing its fleet together
with the rest of the processes to spread its wings across
the globe.
National
Special allocation for northwest
region sought
BSS, Rajshahi
Speakers at a post-budget discussion here on Sunday called
for special budgetary allocation for development the
country's northwest region.
They also stressed the need for giving emphasis on more
infrastructure development and implementing other need-
based programs to improve the socio-economic condition of
the region.
The speakers, however, congratulated the present
government for presenting a people-friendly budget for the
second time and underscored the need for its proper
implementation in the greater interest of taking the
nation forward.
Local unit of Campaign for Good Governance (CGG) organized
the discussion styled "National Budget 2010-11:
Post-budget Review" at the conference hall of Rajshahi
Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI).
Mayor of Rajshahi AHM Khairuzzaman Liton addressed the
meeting as the chief guest, supporting the government's
budget proposal for enhancing allocation towards the vital
sectors like power and energy, education, social security,
poverty alleviation and public-private partnership
program.
He noted that necessary steps should be taken to arrange
meetings with the grassroots people before formulating the
national budget so that their hopes and aspirations could
be reflected in the annual budget.
CGG local unit general secretary Akbarul Hassan Millat
presented the concept paper with its president Prof Fazlul
Haque in the chair. Associate Professor Dr Iliash Hossain
of Economics Department and Assistant Prof Rashed Kabir of
Finance and Banking Department of Rajshahi University,
RCCI president Abu Bakker Siddique Ali, Editor of Daily
Sonali Sangbad Liakat Ali, CGG Vice President Mustafizur
Rahman Khan and former MP Prof Lutfunnessa Hossain
addressed the meeting as special guests.
The speakers underlined the need for extending budgetary
allocation towards infrastructural development, creation
of investment-friendly atmosphere and availability of
updated business information in the region for attracting
investors to flourish different industries.
Highlighting the enormous potentiality of silk along with
establishing agro-processing industry, they said the
people and the marginal farmers always remain neglected
and underprivileged in many ways and said they should be
brought under the special budgetary allocation.
In this context, the speakers said that socio-economic
uplift of the marginal and the rural poor could be
possible through expansion of sericulture farming and its
industry by utilizing existing natural resources.
They said the sector needs special allocation in the
coming national budget for reviving its glorious past as
it has a bright prospect for creating rural employment and
alleviating poverty. Referring to the agriculture sector,
they observed that surplus production of vegetables and
other seasonal fruits could be utilized properly through
setting up an agro-based export- processing zone in the
region. So, they suggested supply of pipeline based gas to
this region.
Country sees tourism boom as private sector plays key role
BSS, Dhaka
The country's private sector played a crucial role
infusing thousands of crore of taka investment in the
rapid growth of tourism during the last couple of years.
The private sector investment poured in the tourism sector
amid growing demand for travelling to tourists spots by
the local and international tourists, Civil Aviation and
Tourism Ministry sources said. Most of the funds went
mainly to the development of hotels, motels, resorts,
amusement parks and restaurants at popular tourist
destinations of the country.
Around 500 hotels, 40 resorts and 15 amusement parks were
built at popular tourist destinations, including Dhaka,
Cox's Bazar, Chittagong, Sylhet, Bogra and Khulna during
the period and also created as many as 50,000 new jobs
especially for youths.
Shafique Alam Mehedi, acting secretary of the civil
aviation and tourism ministry, told BSS that most of the
private sector entrepreneurs came up with investments
during the last one and a half years encouraged by the
government's bold steps including enactment of a
Bangladesh Parjatan Board Act and promulgation of a
special tourist zone ordinance.
The flourishing tourism industry has taken a new turn of
revolutionary change, he said and added along with private
investment, the government is trying to take policy and
budgetary measures to further give an impetus to the
tourism industry. Mehedi said the government is now
investing in several projects to increase tourist
facilities at different tourist destinations.
The government spent around Taka 20 crore during the last
two years mostly for building accommodation facilities,
increasing product quality, renovating tourist
destinations and identifying new tourist spots, the
ministry sources said.
When contacted, Khwaja Tipu Sultan, a private tourist
investor as well as operator, said tendency of the
country's people's for travelling has recently been
increased considerably, which led private sector to invest
in the sector.
The growing tourism industry urgently needs a policy to
grow faster than ever, said Tipu Sultan, who invested Taka
100 crore of late for setting up a luxury tea resort
dubbed 'Grand Sultan Tea Resort and Golf court' (GSTRG).
The resort is being built on 13.2 acres of land in
Srimangol and will have 167 rooms, 20 suites (including
presidential), ball room, swimming pool, a golf course
(nine holes), lake, and an eye-catching tea garden inside
it, said Tipu Sultan.
Home ministry to implement 90 pc ADP projects: Sahara
BSS, Dhaka
Home Minister Advocate Sahara Khatun on Sunday said 78 per
cent of development projects of the ministry under the
current ADP has already been implemented and it may reach
90 percent by the fiscal year-end in June.
"We have to work unitedly sincerely, honesty and
efficiency for hundred percent implementation of the ADP,"
she said while briefing journalists at the conference room
of the ministry after attending the monthly review meeting
on ADP projects.
Chaired by the minister, the meeting was attended, among
others, by State Minister for Home Advocate Shamsul Haque
Tuku, Home Secretary Abdus Sobhan Sikder, Additional
Secretary Iqbal Khan Chowdhury, Acting Inspector General
of Police (IGP) Nabo Bikram Kishore Tripura, Director
General (DG) of Passport M A Mabud, DG Coast Guard,
Inspector General of Prisons and Project Director (PD) of
the Machine Readable Passport (MRP).
The home minister said officials of nine departments under
the ministry have been implementing the ongoing projects
with sincerity and efficiency.
Highlighting the success of the MRP and other projects,
Sahara Khantun said the project officials have efficiently
started the MRP within scheduled time and already
delivered 7,000 MRPs to the people of different status
including President Md Zillur Rahman and Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina.
The previous four-party alliance government had started
the MRP project in 2004 at a cost of Taka 1,546 crore for
looting the money, she said adding that the MRP is now
being implemented by this government at a cost of Taka 697
crore only.
The home minister also said a DNA test laboratory would be
set up in the country soon. The government has already
selected a place at Agargaon for construction of the DNA
Laboratory, she added.
Crocodiles worth Euro 100,000 exported to Germany
BSS, Dhaka
Bangladesh exported sweet water crocodiles worth Euro
100,000 to Germany last week in an effort to diversity
exports to the European country, a business leader said on
Sunday.
"The first consignment of crocodiles from farm in Bhaluka
was sent to Germany last week, bagging 100,000 Euro,"
Saiful Islam, president of Bangladesh-Germany Chamber of
Commerce and Industry (BGCCI) told BSS on the sidelines of
a luncheon meeting in the city.
Commerce Minister Col (retd) Faruk Khan attended the
function as the chief guest, while deputy head of mission
of German Embassy Rolf Dieter Reinhard spoke as the
special guest.
Saiful Islam, also the chairman of Western Marine Shipyard
Limited, said the shipment of crocodile was a right step
towards diversification of export products to Germany,
second single largest export destination for Bangladesh
after USA.
He said readymade garments make up more than 80 percent of
export volume to Germany, while rest of 20 percent comes
from frozen food, pharmaceuticals, leader goods and jute
items.
"It's time to widen Bangladesh export basket," he said
adding that agro-based products such as potato has great
potential to grab markets in Germany and other European
countries. Germany was keen to help Bangladesh in export
diversification, said the business leader adding that the
crocodile exports was one step forward towards that end.
Faruk Khan said Bangladesh has enormous potentials to grab
European market through promotion of exports with
shipbuilding, medicine and frozen foods. He urged the
businessmen to be innovative and help country to earn more
money through exports of new items.
Appreciating German investments in Bangladesh, Faruk Khan
said the investment which now hovers around $300 million
should be increased in Bangladesh through chamber level
contacts in both countries. The BGCCI, he said, could act
as a catalyst to boost Bangladesh-German bilateral trade
and investment.
According to commerce ministry, Bangladesh's exports stood
at $2226.95 million against an import volume of $410.49
million in 2008-09 financial year. Bangladesh mainly
imports chemicals, animal fats and oil, automobile and
arms and ammunition.
Water levels of major rivers start receding in Brahmaputra
basin
BSS, Rangpur
The major rivers started receding in the Brahmaputra basin
due to reduction in the onrushing waters from the upstream
with sporadic drizzles at places during the past 24 hours
till this morning, official sources said on Sunday.
Earlier, water levels of the major rivers and most of
their tributaries continued rising till Saturday morning
due to onrush of hilly waters coupled with moderate to
heavy rainfalls at different places in the region and the
upstream.
The overall river situation continued improving during the
past 24 hours substantially in the region where the rivers
were flowing below their respective danger marks (DM) at
all points this morning, official sources in the Water
Development Board (WDB) said.
Local sources said that erosions devoured 10 more houses
with the recessions in the water levels of the rivers in
the Brahmaputra basin during the period and the situation
was quite normal since this noon with no more erosion.
The Dharla marked a fall by 2cm during the period and was
flowing at 25.10m at Kurigram point at 6 am this morning,
which was 193m below its DM. The Teesta marked a sharp
fall by 25cm during the past 24 hours and was flowing at
51.65m, which was 75cm below its DM, at Dalia point in
Nilphamari district this morning.
However, the Teesta also marked a rise by 9cm during the
period and was flowing at 28.31 cm at Kawnia point in
Rangpur this morning, which was 169 cm below the DM.
President calls all to plant at least three saplings in
rainy season
BSS, Dhaka
President Zillur Rahman on Sunday urged all the countrymen
to plant at least three saplings each at their own
initiatives at homestead or along roads or embankments to
fill the country with greenery.
"Plants can play a significant role in protecting the
human race from the adverse impacts of the climate
change," he said while inaugurating a plantation programme
at Bangabhaban here as part of the ongoing National Tree
Plantation Movement- 2010.
On June 1, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the
three-month National Tree Plantation Movement and
one-month National Tree Fair-2010 at Bangabandhu
International Conference Centre in the capital.
Mentioning that tree is playing significant role in
keeping the globe livable through maintaining ecological
balance, the President said there is no alternative to
planting trees for protecting the degrading environment.
The President said Bangladesh is a disaster porn country
due to its geographical position and it is a must to build
a greenbelt across in the coastal belt in southern part of
the country to protect it from natural calamities.
"I am happy to know that the government has taken a
special programme in this regard as well as necessary
steps to protect bio- diversity," he said.
Terming trees as close friends men and nature, the
President said the role of plants in fulfilling the basic
need of human being including food, cloths, housing,
health care and employment generation is immense.
Wising all success of the national tree plantation
movement, the President said the country would be turn
into greenery with integrated efforts of all.
State Minister for Environment and Forests Dr Hasan Mahmud
and State Minister for Housing and Public Works Advocate
Abdul Mannan Khan also spoke on the occasion.
Dr Hasan said the government has undertaken an
afforestation project along 2300-km coastal belt of the
country for the first time.
He said the government has decided to plant one crore of
sapling across the country as part of the global programme
of planting 300 crore of tress Mentioning that the
government is giving priority to social afforestation, Dr
Hasan said 84,091 poor people were benefited from it in
the last year and the government has taken a new project
worth Taka 109 crore in this regard.
Later, President Zillur Rahman planted a sapling of
jackfruit at the garden of Bangabhaban.
Digital purjee system to be introduced in 13 sugar mills
BSS, Dhaka
The government has decided to introduce digital 'purjee'
(similar to a purchase order or permit) system in 13
state-owned sugar mills in the country by October 15.
The decision was taken at an opinion exchange meeting on
Sunday on the introduction of SMS (short messaging
system)-based digital 'purjee' in the country's all sugar
mills.
Access to Information (A2I) Programme under the Prime
Minister's Office (PMO) arranged the meeting chaired by
Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister M Abdul Karim.
Industries Secretary Dewan Zakir Hossain, National Project
Director of A2I Programme Md Nazrul Islam Khan, Chairman
of Bangladesh Sugar and Food Industries Corporation (BSFIC)
Ranjit Kumar Biswas spoke at the meeting, among others.
The chiefs of the sugar mills and farmers from different
areas also took part in the discussion.
The meeting was informed that against the backdrop of the
success of the pilot-based 'purjee' management in Faridpur
and Mobarakganj Sugar Mills, the digital purjee system is
going to be introduced in the rest of the sugar mills by
October 15.
The meeting was told that information about providing loan
and payment of price of sugarcane will also be given
through SMS.
Besides, trainers of the sugar mills will be provided
training to this end under the supervision of the A2I
Programme. To introduce digital purjee system, weighing
bridges will have to be set up in all sugar mills.
Call to follow code of conduct in Muktijoddha Sangsad
polls
BSS, Dhaka
Civil Aviation and Tourism Secretary- in-Charge Shafik
Alam Mehdi, who is working as the election commissioner of
Bangladesh Muktijoddha Sangsad polls 2010, on Sunday
called upon all to abide by the election code of conduct.
Legal actions might be taken, if anyone violates code of
conduct and even the candidature might be cancelled, he
said at a press conference in the city.
He said the head of the government is the patron of all
freedom fighters and none in the polls has the scope to be
government-backed.
He said, as per an unanimous decision, none is allowed to
use name and photo of the Prime Minister in election
campaign.
The secretary said those are already using name and photos
of political personalities would have to withdraw those.
"All will have to keep in mind that Bangladesh Muktijoddha
Sangsad is a non-political organisation," he said.
Replying to a question, he said legal actions would be
taken on receipt of formal allegation against anyone.
He said the system of voting would be published in the
media and the returning officers would inform the freedom
fighters and the candidates about it.
Elections to the Muktijoddha Sangsad would be held on June
26 and 1,62,355 voters will vote in the polls to elect
their representatives in 41 posts.
Sports
Slovenia wins over 10-man Algeria
AFP, Polokwane
Captain Robert Koren snatched the soft late goal that gave
Slovenia a 1-0 victory over 10-man Algeria on Sunday and top
place in Group C of the World Cup.
Goalkeeper Faouzi Chaouchi should have saved a curling shot
from outside the penalty area on 79 minutes, but let it slip
into the corner of the net soon after striker Abdelkader
Ghezzal was sent off.
It was the first World Cup win for the East Europeans after
three losses in their only previous appearance eight years ago
and will offer hope ahead of tougher assignments against the
United States and England.
Among the crowd at the 46,000-seat Peter Mokaba Stadium in
this northern city was former superstar Zinedine Zidane, born
in Marseille to Algerian parents and a World Cup winner with
France 12 years ago.
Warm, clear conditions greeted the outsiders in a mini-league
pundits believe will be dominated by 1966 champions England
and the USA, who drew 1-1 in Rustenburg the previous night. A
free kick in front of goal and outside the penalty area
offered the North Africans the first chance and goalkeeper
Samir Handanovic did well to tip over a Nadir Belhadj shot.
Chaouchi and Portsmouth midfielder Belhadj were fortunate
starters for the 'Desert Foxes' as bans stemming from 2010
African Nations Cup red cards were dropped only this week by
the African Football Confederation.
The early exchanges had a heavy imprint of caution with ball
retention the first priority for teams who reached the
tournament at the expense of world top-20 ranked teams Russia
and Egypt. Spectators blowing plastic vuvuzela horns were
creating a distinct South African atmosphere in a match
featuring plenty of neat passing but a paucity of goalmouth
action.
Aleksander Radosavljevic was first to be cautioned after
fouling Belhadj on 35 minutes and Slovenia had a scare soon
after as a Rafik Halliche header off a corner went wide.
Chaouchi came to the rescue as half-time approached,
acrobatically tipping over a dipping Valter Birsa shot as
Slovenia moved up a couple of gears and also forced a couple
of corners.
Hassan Yebda, a starter at the expense of off-form captain
Yazid Mansouri and sporting peroxide blond hair, was at the
heart of an impressive early second-half Algerian move that
ended with a shot straight at Handanovic.
With no sign of a goal the coaches introduced new strikers,
Ghezzal replacing Rafik Djebbour and Zlatan Ljubijankic coming
on for Zlatko Dedic, whose goal eliminated Russia.
Halfway through the half and the game remained goalless
although Italy-based Ghezzal was making an impact, getting on
the end of several crosses only to be let down by high
headers.
But the Algerian substitute did the 'Desert Foxes' no favours
by getting sent off 17 minutes from full-time for a second
yellow card after deliberately handling a cross.
Dunga
imposes new Brazil media blackout
AFP, Johannesburg
Brazil coach Dunga banned the media from training for the
third time in a week on Sunday, just two days before the South
Americans face North Korea in their World Cup opener.
Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) official Rodrigo Paiva
announced the decision amid speculation that the move was the
result of a reported fallout between teammates Daniel Alves
and Julio Baptista on Friday after training.
However, the CBF preferred to see Dunga's move as simply his
preferred method of going about his business as the big
kick-off nears for the five-times champions of whom so much
is, as always, expected.
Four years ago in Germany, previous coach Carlos Parreira
allowed greater access to players but Dunga, who has his
critics not least as a result of leaving the likes of Adriano
and Ronaldinho of the squad, prefers a more cagey approach.
Brazilian coaches habitually have to deal with hordes of
journalists who battle to satisfy the insatiable appetite of
fans, and Parreira had in 2006 to fend off issues such as
former striker Ronaldo's weight.
Dunga has kept most of his players on a tight media leash,
doing the bare minimum in putting up two players a day for a
set-piece interview at the Randpark Golf Club on the outskirts
of Johannesburg.
Even when the players are on hand they come in and go out via
a door which is at the other end of the room from where the
reporters congregate, ensuring the maximum chance of a quick
getaway to fend off awkward questions. Defender Maicon and
reserve midfielder Ramires explained that the decision to
train behind closed doors "is the decision of the coach" and
they had no say in it.
Benfica's Ramires joked that if he were at liberty to divulge
something about Saturday's training session "then it would
have been an open session, not closed!"
Under FIFA rules, Monday's training session at Ellis Park will
be open to the media for ther first 15 minutes, after which
Dunga is slated to give an interview.
At least Dunga is not quite as extreme as 1958 winning coach
Vicente Feola, who banned his players from wearing hats,
smoking while in official squad attire or talk to the media
outside of official press gatherings. The Feola recipe worked,
of course, as Brazil, inspired by a 17-year-old Pele, lifted
the trophy in Sweden.
Fish
sets up all-American final at Queen’s
AFP, London
Mardy Fish set up an all-American final in the ATP
grass-court event at Queen's Club with a straight sets win
over Spain's Feliciano Lopez here on Saturday.
Fish, serving powerfully, defeated Lopez 6-3, 6-4 with the
eighth-seeded Spaniard unable to reproduce the form that
had seen him defeat compatriot Rafael Nadal, the world
number one and French Open champion. Now Fish will face
fellow American Sam Querrey, a friend, in the final here
on Sunday.
Earlier on Saturday, the 6ft 6in (1.98 metres) Querrey
defeated Germany's Rainer Schuettler 6-7 (9/11), 7-5, 6-3.
Querrey lost a close first set on a tie-break and did not
earn a break point on the serve of former Australia Open
finalist Schuettler until the 13th game of the second set.
But the big-serving 22-year-old then took charge.
A service break early in the final set saw Querrey heading
to the final of an event that acts as a warm-up for
Wimbledon, now the only one of tennis's four Majors played
on grass.
This year's Queen's final will produce a suprise champion
after a week of upsets that have seen defending champion
Andy Murray, Andy Roddick, Novak Djokovic and Nadal all
knocked out at the south-west London venue earlier in the
week.
"It was a tough one out there and I'm glad to get through
it," Querrey told BBC Sport.
"I just wanted to come out here and play well, you can't
really control the outcome of other matches but I've never
seen so many upsets as this week."
Fast bowlers put South Africa in
charge
AFP, Port of Spain
Fierce fast bowling from Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel set
them up, and captain Graeme Smith then plundered an
unbeaten 79 to put South Africa in command of the opening
Test against West Indies on Saturday.
Steyn captured five wickets for 29 runs from 14 overs, and
Morkel supported with four for 19 from 13 overs, as West
Indies were dismissed for their lowest total against the
South Africans of 102 about 45 minutes before tea.
"Morne bowled fantastically well," said Steyn. "He set the
standard in the morning session with three early wickets
for us.
"Once the ball started reverse swinging, we came back into
the game, myself and the low skiddy bowlers, but I thought
we bowled fantastically well."
The Proteas, with a first innings lead of 250, chose not
to enforce the follow-on to rest their hardworking and
sore fast bowlers in particular, and Smith profitted to
lead his side to 155 for two at the close on the third day
at Queen's Park Oval.
They have a lead of 405.
South Africa lost Alviro Petersen lbw playing across to
Sulieman Benn for 22, following an opening stand of 56
with Smith, and Hashim Amla, caught at extra cover off
Shane Shillingford for five.
Smith reached his 50 from 78 balls, when he chopped a
delivery from Benn to backward point, and Brendan Nash mis-fielded
to allow him the luxury of a single.
He and Jacques Kallis, not out on 40, then spent the
remainder of the evening in an unfinished stand of 76 for
the third wicket that further broke the spirits of their
opponents.
"We'll try to keep them out in the sun for a little bit
longer," said Steyn. "We will bat until we feel
comfortable that we have enough runs with which to play,
and go out there and do the business again with the ball."
Steyn transformed the complexion of the match, after West
Indies continued from their lunch-time position of 65 for
three.
The 27-year-old sliced through the middle and lower order
to become the fifth South African bowler to take 200
wickets in Tests behind Shaun Pollock, Makhaya Ntini,
Allan Donald, and team-mate Jacques Kallis.
"It was another great day to be South African again," said
Steyn. "Individually, it was great to have the honour of a
five-for, and picking up my 200th Test wicket, but it was
a day about our team."
Before lunch, Morkel had run through the top order in a
decisive opening spell, when he ripped out makeshift
opener Travis Dowlin, Brendan Nash in controversial
circumstances, and West Indies captain Chris Gayle in
successive overs to leave the home team on 12 for three.
After lunch, Steyn had Shivnarine Chanderpaul caught at
short fine leg by wicketkeeper Mark Boucher for 26 fending
a fast, short, rising delivery, which marked the end of a
flourishing stand of 59 for the fourth wicket with
Narsingh Deonarine.
This triggered a dramatic collapse that sent West Indies
plunging from 71 for three to 75 for nine in the space of
28 balls spanning close to half-hour.
When Steyn, playing in his 39th Test, breached Benn's
feeble front-foot defensive stroke and bowled him for a
duck, it was his landmark dismissal. Only three bowlers
have achieved the milestone in fewer Tests - Clarrie
Grimmett of Australia holds the record of 36 matches, his
compatriot Dennis Lillee, and Pakistan's Waqar Younis
needed two more Tests.
Jacques Kallis put the Windies' out of their misery, when
he had Nelon Pascal caught at mid-wicket for two.
Earlier, Morkel benefitted from a questionable decision
from video umpire Simon Taufel of Australia that removed
Nash for one, and put the Umpire Decision Review System
under the microscope again.
Super Eagles ready to
soar against Greece
AFP, Johannesburg
Nigeria's Super Eagles will make up for their opening loss
to Argentina and beat Greece in their next game at the
World Cup, coach Lars Lagerback said on Sunday.
Nigeria created many chances but was unable to cancel out
Gabriel Heinze's sixth-minute header off a corner in
Argentina's 1-0 win at Ellis Park Stadium here on
Saturday. While the uninhibited Africans had their moments
against the twice world champions, 2004 European champions
Greece were dismal in a 2-0 opening loss to South Korea in
the other Group B match on Saturday.
Nigeria, who has now gone five defeats and a draw since
their last win at the World Cup in 1998, takes on Greece
in Bloemfontein on Thursday.
"It's not good to lose your opening game in a tournament
and Greece have also lost a game, so it's the same
situation for both of us," the experienced 61-year-old
Lagerback said. "I know that my Super Eagles players will
handle this situation very well so from my point of view I
am very positive going into the next game. It doesn't
matter if Greece had lost or won. "It's very important for
us now to go in to the next game and win it," added
Lagerback, who for nine years was in charge of the Swedish
national side.
With Argentina taking on South Korea in Johannesburg's
Soccer City on the same day a defeat for either Nigeria or
Greece could effectively see them exit the tournament.
Wolfsburg forward Obafemi Martins, who came on as a
second-half substitution, said beating Greece was vital.
"The match against Greece is so important now because we
simply have to pick up three points. We're still in with a
good chance," he said.
Although the Nigerians lost, there was widespread praise
for the stunning goalkeeping of Israel-based Vincent
Enyeama, who pipped Argentine superstar Lionel Messi for
official man-of-the-match honours. Enyeama stared down the
creative Argentines, making six fine saves, four of them
from the world's best player Messi, and almost helped
Nigeria to pull off a fighting draw against the two-time
world champions. "It was a great night for me and to play
against a team like Argentina was a fantastic opportunity
for everyone," Enyeama said. "And I'm proud of the way we
responded to their early goal."
Brazil to lift North Koreans’ veil of secrecy
AFP, Johannesburg
Brazil will use reclusive North Korea to launch their bid
to escape their 'Group of Death' and go after a record
sixth World Cup at Ellis Park Stadium here on Tuesday.
The North Koreans, rated 105th in the world, are not
expected to trouble the top-ranked Brazilians, who under
pragmatic coach Dunga have to find a way out of Group G
against Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal and Didier Drogba's
Ivory Coast.
Dunga's emphasis on work-rate and defensive duties has
left the supporters of the "jogo bonito" (beautiful game)
fuming, but the World Cup-winning skipper is intent on
forging the Brazil approach in his own image.
Former skipper Socrates has even gone as far as to suggest
that Brazil could be knocked out in the group phase and
has slammed their style of play under Dunga as an
"affront" to Brazilian football culture. Dunga lifted the
trophy as captain in 1994 and now seeks to emulate
Germany's Franz Beckenbauer in garnering another win as
coach. Brazil, who last won the world crown in South
Korea/Japan eight years ago, have never faced North Korea,
who will be playing at the World Cup for the first time
since their sensational debut appearance in England in
1966. Back then the Koreans shocked the world with a 1-0
win over then two-time world champions Italy before going
out after an epic 5-3 loss to Portugal in the
quarter-finals.
The element of surprise will be missing this time, as
Brazil under Dunga will have counted on victory over the
Asian minnows as part of their overall strategy ahead of
their crucial group games against Ivory Coast on June 20
and Portugal five days later.
"On taking over I demanded that every player in the squad
up his game and my instructions have been followed to the
letter," Dunga said. "To win a World Cup it requires
Brazilian talent and the tactical care of the Europeans."
The expectation is always on the world's most popular team
to win in style and anything less than a win for Brazil in
their opener will only ramp up the pressure from their
fans and the Brazilian media. The South African tournament
also represents a watershed for 2007 world player of the
year Kaka. He is coming off a difficult injury-plagued
season with Real Madrid but told reporters that his thigh
injury was much improved.
"My condition is improving daily. The injury no longer
bothers me. I think I'll be fine for the start of the
competition," said Kaka, who joined Real from AC Milan
last summer for 65 million euros (78.5 million dollars).
"I am ready to be one of the leaders of the squad -
although the team already has many leaders both
technically and tactically." For their part the North
Koreans have been talking up their chances against Brazil.
North Korea earned their spot in South Africa by
eliminating Saudi Arabia and Iran and they give little
away with their determined defensive approach.
Their best-known player Jong Tae-Se hopes his team can
change the image of the isolated nation and believes they
could topple mighty Brazil. Striker Jong, who plays in
Japan's J-League, said: "We want to change the North
Korean image. Our core mentality is like Germany,
Germany's spirit. "We're brave. We can win against Brazil.
(What) everybody thinks about that game is we can't win
but we have a brave heart and brave spirits."
World Cup gets first
taste of Messi magic
AFP, Johannesburg
Lionel Messi gave the World Cup an early taste of his
sublime talents on Saturday as Argentina beat Nigeria by a
single goal but the two-time champions could have scored
many more.
The little midfielder sliced the Nigerian defence apart
with attacking runs and was only denied a hat-trick by the
West Africans' inspired goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama as one
of the favourites for the tournament opened their account.
Gabriel Heinze's powerful header after six minutes may
have been all that separated the sides at the final
whistle, but no team watching the match played at
Johannesburg's Ellis Park Stadium will be in any doubt
that Messi means business.
"It is important to get off to a winning start while
playing good football," said Messi, the current world
player of the year.
Argentina coach Diego Maradona, a national icon after
captaining the country to World Cup glory in 1986 but
largely untested as a manager, was delighted with Messi's
performance.
"I want him to be always on the ball. It really pleases me
to see that," he said.
"Football would not be beautiful if you couldn't see Messi
do crazy things."
But South Korea are top of Argentina's Group B after a
comfortable 2-0 win over 2004 European champions Greece in
the day's early match in Port Elizabeth.
Manchester United's Park Ji-Sung was the driving force as
the South Koreans outpaced and outthought the Greeks to
give his team a fighting chance of achieving their
ambition of a last 16 berth.
The 2002 co-hosts grabbed a seventh minute lead through
Lee Jung Soo's volley before Park wrapped up the three
points after a strong run through the Greek defence and a
firm shot past keeper Alexandros Tzorvas shortly after
half time.
England were starting their bid to end a 44-year wait for
football's biggest prize by facing the United States in
Rustenburg in the final match of the day, which kicked off
at 1830 GMT.
Wayne Rooney, whom teammates say has been in stunning form
in training, is so important to England's hopes that US
coach Bob Bradley said his team must stop him to have any
chance of getting a result in the Group C clash.
"Our ability to keep track of him and keep him from doing
what he wants to do is a very, very important part of what
we have to do to win," Bradley said.
England coach Fabio Capello said the Manche-ster United
striker could be one of the players of the tournament -
providing he keeps the short temper he has already shown
in warm-up games firmly in check. "He is a fantastic
player because he wants to win and the hunger in him is
really, really strong," Capello said.
On Friday's opening day, host nation South Africa were
held to a 1-1 draw by Mexico, Friday's other match saw
France fail to fire against Uruguay in a goalless Group A
match which featured the first red card of the tournament,
for the South Americans' Nicolas Lodeiro.
Sharapova aims for
third title
AFP, Birmingham
Maria Sharapova put herself in a position to win a third
Edgbaston title after defeating American qualifier Alison
Riske 6-2, 4-6, 6-1 in the semi-finals of the WTA
grass-court event on Saturday.
But victory was far from straightforward for the former
Wimbledon champion.
The 19-year-old Riske had never won a match in a main WTA
tour event before this tournament but, after Sharapova
threatened a quick victory by taking the first set 6-2,
the teenager levelled the match with a 6-4 second set win.
However, she could not maintain that level of play and
Sharapova won the deciding set 6-1. The second seeded
Russian will now face top seed Li Na in the final.
However, the Chinese was also taken to three sets in her
semi-final before beating France's Aravane Rezai 6-1, 3-6,
6-3.
Sharapova, 23, lost to Li in last year's semi-finals and
is looking forward to the chance of revenge. "It'll be
good to play her again," Sharapova told the BBC.
"A year makes a big difference. I certainly don't like
losing to the same person twice in a row - I'm a big
competitor," Sharapova, also a former US and Australian
Open champion, added. Riske, the world number 185, gave
her more celebrated opponent a tough test and an impressed
Sharapova said: "I had one sloppy game in the second set
and let her back into the match and credit to her she did
a great job of executing that set.
"I definitely had to change a few things around in the
third set and step it up a bit. I came through in the end
and played good tennis.
"My game is trying to attack. If I'm doing it well, I
should be winning the majority of my matches and that
definitely gives you confidence."
Storms halt third round
of State Farm Classic
AFP, Springfield
The third round of the LPGA State Farm Classic was
suspended because of thunderstorms Saturday and was to
resume on Sunday, organizers said.
After a four-hour break, play was called for the day with
46 players still to complete their rounds.
Second-round leader MJ Hur of South Korea and American
Cristie Kerr were atop the leaderboard at 13-under when
play was halted. Hur had completed three holes and Kerr
had played four.
South Korean Amy Yang and Sweden's Anna Nordqvist were a
shot back.
More rain was forecast for Sunday. In 2003, heavy rain
forced cancellation of the fourth round and third-round
leader Candie Kung of Taiwan was declared the winner.
Hur, 20, wasn't bothered by the delay. She said she ate,
watched the storms pass and joked with friends.
Even if the weather is poor again on Sunday, she said, it
won't matter.
"Everyone is the same ... it doesn't matter," she said
with a smile. "Another storm coming tomorrow I heard ...
hopefully sunshine." Hur said being atop the leaderboard
didn't make her nervous. "I feel every day the same," she
said. "This is serious, but I try to just have fun and
enjoy it."
Steve Waugh to support
Australia’s World Cup bid
AFP, Johannesburg
Former Australian cricket captain Steve Waugh has put his
support behind Australia's bid to host the 2022 FIFA World
Cup, Football Federation Australia said on Sunday.
Waugh, 45, will be in South Africa to cheer on the
Socceroos during the World Cup, while also supporting
Australia's bid to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Waugh, who played for Australia' schoolboys football team
before turning to cricket, played a total of 168 Test
matches and 325 one-day internationals in an international
career spanning from 1985 to 2004.
"In 18 years of touring as a professional cricketer I saw
many different countries, but Australia's ability as a
nation to host successful major events, together with the
welcoming nature of the Australian people, always made me
feel proud," Waugh said in a statement.
"Australia is a sports-loving nation that is ready to host
the greatest show on earth, the FIFA World Cup."
Australia last Thursday officially withdrew from the race
to stage the 2018 World Cup to fully focus on hosting the
2022 tournament. Australia will compete with Qatar, United
States, Japan and South Korea to host the 2022 World Cup
with FIFA to make a decision on the hosts for both World
Cups in December.
Italy title defence faces tough Paraguay test
AFP, Cape Town
Champions Italy insist they have the right mix of youth
and experience to successfully defend the World Cup, but
there are lingering concerns ahead of a tough opener
against Paraguay today.
Marcello Lippi's ageing team kick-off a Group F here they
should top, with Slovakia and minnows New Zealand their
other hurdles.
Paraguay shape as their hardest test, but their
preparations have been far from ideal with a defeat to
Mexico and a draw with the Swiss, which has seen them come
under pressure from the Italian media.
In a better display, they beat local team the Guateng All
Stars 6-0 in a practice match on Friday with Lippi giving
his clearest indication yet of what his starting XI and
formation will be. He played what seemed to be his top
side for one hour in a 4-3-3 system.
The defence comprised Gianluca Zambrotta and Domenico
Criscito flanking captain Fabio Cannavaro and Giorgio
Chiellini in the centre ahead of Gianluigi Buffon. With
Andrea Pirlo and Daniele De Rossi rested with injuries,
Gennaro Gattuso joined Riccardo Montolivo and Claudio
Marchisio in midfield with Vincenzo Iaquinta and Simone
Pepe either side of Alberto Gilardino up front.
The ice-cool Lippi, who delivered a fourth world
championship to the country in 2006, is unconcerned about
their form, or worries that the squad is too old.
"We've got old players but age doesn't mean broken down,
it means experience, charisma," he said. "We're used to
matches at a high level, we have the right mix with our
young players." Captain Cannavaro, who will retire after
the tournament, admitted the defence needed to be at its
best to keep out Paraguay.
"Defence is vital, but that doesn't mean we'll stay in our
own half of the pitch," said the 36-year-old, who is
coming off a poor season at Juventus. "It means being
compact. We'll never play an attacking game like Brazil,
Portugal or Spain but they'll never be able to defend like
us." There are two ways of looking at Italy.
The first is that which Lippi is focussing on-that they
are the holders, have bags of experience throughout the
team and a history and a culture of winning.
The other, though, is that they are in crisis with no
stars, a squad made up mostly of players unknown outside
Italy and a team that is usually less than convincing on
the pitch. Paraguay, on the other hand, are in great shape
having beaten Brazil and Argentina in qualifying.
They can no longer be considered minnows having reached
their fourth straight finals, with much of the credit
given to Argentinian coach Gerardo Martino who has managed
to negotiate a delicate transition phase for his team. He
has taken a new generation of players under his wing,
notably Nelson Haedo Valdez of Borussia Dortmund, Roque
Santa Cruz of Manchester City and Oscar Cardozo of Benfica
in attack.
Their tight and effective defensive unit is marshalled by
goalkeeper Justo Villar.
Martino is confident his front line can deliver the goals
to beat Italy.
Japan fired up by Asian rivals’ opening win
AFP, George
South Korea's stunning 2-0 win over Greece has fired up
unfancied Asian rivals Japan before their own World Cup
opener against African powerhouse Cameroon in Bloemfontein
today.
"South Korea pressed hard in battling for the ball. I told
my players they can do the same," Japan coach Takeshi
Okada said after watching TV coverage of South Korea
making a flying start to their World Cup campaign in Port
Elizabeth.
"It is our turn now. We have an ample chance, too," the
coach told Japanese media at the end of training following
their arrival in Bloem-fontein on Saturday.
Japan face Cameroon after losing to Serbia, South Korea,
England and Ivory Coast in four straight warm-up
friendlies and then battling to an uninspiring 0-0 draw
with Zimbabwe in a training match in George on Thursday.
FC Tokyo defender Yuto Nagatomo also watched the nation
which co-hosted the 2002 World Cup with Japan defeat
Greece, the former European champions.
"It has inspired us a lot," he said. "We don't want to be
outdone by South Korea. We want to work hard and go one up
on South Korea."
The Blue Samurai have been seeking revenge after they were
whipped by neighbours South Korea twice this year but
Japan Football Association president Motoaki Inukai has
kept faith with Okada despite mounting calls for his
scalp. Japan lost to South Korea 3-1 at the East Asian
championships in February and 2-0 last month, both at
home. The fact that present and former J-League players
powered the South Korean feat also excited the Samurai.
Kashima Antlers defender Lee Jung Soo opened the scoring
on seven minutes and captain and Manchester United winger
Park Ji-Sung, who has made his professional debut with
Kyoto Purple Sanga, scored another on 52 minutes.
Japan, who have scored only one goal in the last five
games through Brazilian-born centre back Marcus Tulio
Tanaka, focused on set pieces in Saturday's training.
"We spent a considerable amount of time to check our set
plays," Okada told Japanese media. "Set plays appeared to
have held the key to both attack and defence so far in the
tournament."
Tanaka banged home a corner from Gamba Osaka midfielder
Yasuhito Endo in the 2-1 defeat by England on May 30.
Japan yieded two goals on free kicks when they bowed 2-0
to Ivory Coast on June 4.
Okada, who has been criticised for changing his squad's
formation, is expected to start with fast-rising CSKA
Moscow midfielder Keisuke Honda as a lone frontman on
Monday with former Mallorca reserve striker Yoshito Okubo
and Grenoble midfielder Daisuke Matsui.
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