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Leading News
Manjur Alam elected CCC Mayor
He defeats Mohiuddin by a big margin of 95,528 votes
UNB, Chittagong
M Manjur Alam Manju is set to take over the office of
Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) for the first time
shattering the dream of fourth straight victory by his
once political mentor ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury in the
mayoral race.
People of Chittagong with a good number of young voters
have chosen BNP-backed Chittagong Unn-ayan Andolon
candidate M Manjur Alam as city father for the next five
years through exercising their franchise in Thursday's
polls. After the overnight drama over slow pace of
result-announcement (cla-imed by BNP leaders), Returning
Officer Jesmin Tuli on Friday morning formally announced M
Manjur Alam, elected for the first time as "city father"
of Chittagong, sending his supporters into jubilation.
The absolute win for M Manjur Alam with a margin of 95,528
votes over the ruling party-backed Mohiuddin Chowdhury may
prompt both the government and the opposition to rethink
their political future.
According to the Election Commission (EC), of the total
16,88,677 voters, M Manjur Alam polled 479,145 votes and
Moh-iuddin bagged 383,617 in Thursday's CCC polls. A total
of 8,85,064 voters cast their vote but 35,506 votes were
cancelled.
Five other mayoral candidates were Jane Alam of Gonoforum,
Rafiqul Islam of Islamic Andolan, and independent
candidates Md Ibrahim, Syed Sajjad Zoha and Mozammel
Hossain Bhuiyan. Syed Shamsuzzoha got the lowest number of
votes (667) among the seven contestants. Soon after the
formal announcement of unofficial result, Manju reiterated
that he would implement his election pledges for "a better
and developed" Chit-tagong and expressed his desire to
work with former mayor ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury. "I respect
Mohiuddin. I will work toge-ther with him (Mohiuddin) for
the development of Chittagong," he said while expressing
his reaction to the journalists.
In his immediate reaction after the announcement of
results, Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, chief electoral
coordinator of Manju, told the reporters that
Chittagonians desperately wanted a change and they got it
through the result.
"Newly elected Mayor Manjur will be able to establish CCC
(Chittagong City Corporation) as a service-oriented
institution by fulfilling the dream of the people," he
said.
Through the Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) polls,
Bangladesh entered into the digital voting system on a
limited scale - a step forward in the modernization of the
country's electoral process after the preparation of voter
list with photographs.
Ruling party-backed Nagorik Committee candidate Mohiuddin
was earlier elected mayor for a third consecutive term in
2005 by defeating former state minister for Civil Aviation
and Tourism Mir Mohammad Nasir Uddin when BNP was in
power. It is widely believed that new voters, not less
than 5.56 lakh of which nearly 90 per cent represent the
educated and technology-driven society, played vital role
in electing a new mayor of Chittagong, the second largest
city of the country and its principal port city.
Mohiuddin’s
defeat a signal to govt, say some AL leaders
UNB, Dhaka
Ruling Awami League leaders made varied observations about
the Chittagong City Corporation elections where BNP-Jamaat
backed candidate Manjurul Alam Manju clinched a stunning
victory over a big shot like ABM Mohiuddin Chowhdury of
Awami League.Some senior leaders of Awami League consider
the election results as a signal to the government, some
others think the Chittagong Awami League needs to be fully
reorganized and the third opinion is that it was
absolutely a local body election that has nothing to do
with national politics. Awami League general secretary and
LGRD Minister Syed Ashraful Islam said Awami League
believes in democracy and free, fair and peaceful
elections. The Chittagong City Corporation elections pro-ved
false the opposition's varied allegations.
Giving his initial reaction to the press, Syed Ashraful
said they would analyze the reasons behind the debacle and
take decision accordingly.
He, however, said that Chittagong Awami League will be
recast and reactivated. Awami League presidium member
Obaidul Qader MP said the result is a signal to the
government and it would help the government map out its
future activities.
Party's senior leader Suranjit Sengupta MP said the CCC
elections showed the government can hold free and fair
election, proving false the opposition allegations that
free and fair election is not possible under the present
government.
"Democracy has won," he said, adding that the result may
give impetus to the demoralized opposition but would not
in any way impact the national politics or national
elections since it was absolutely a city corporation
election.
Sengupta admitted that the incumbency factor may be a
reason behind Mohiuddin's debacle.
Some leaders of Chitt-agong Awami League told UNB that the
towering image of Mohiuddin who ran the CCC for 17 years
as mayor started eroding at the later part of this third
consecutive tenure.
Besides, they admitted lack of coordination among the
Chittagong AL leaders in steering the election campaign.
Hasina
and Khaleda Zia congratulate Manju
UNB, Dhaka
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has congratulated newly
elected mayor of Chittagong city corporation Mohammad
Manjur Alam Manju for his win in Thursday's elections.
In a letter of felicitation, she also thanked and greeted
the Election Commission, law enforcing agencies, local
administration and democracy-loving people of all walks of
life of the Chitta-gong city corporation for holding the
election in a free, fair, neutral and acceptable manner.
The Prime Minister said the Thursday's city corporation
election is a bright example of the government's strong
commitment to hold free and fair elections.
She also said the Chittagong city corporation election has
also proved the government's sincerity and commitment to
ensure an independent and strong Election Commission.
In this regard, Hasina said that during the last
BNP-Jamaat alliance government the people of Chittagong
city corporation had to remain alert and on guard whole
night to protect people's verdict in a city corporation
election.
"But the present government is people's government. People
have voted us to power. That's why we're fully committed
to establish people's rights and uphold people's verdicts
in the elections," she said.
Remembering the tough times before the general election of
December 29, 2008, the Prime Minister said the foundation
of the hard-earned democracy and the democratic
institutions of the country will have to be further
strengthened for maximum welfare of the mass people.
"We'll continue to give our best to establish people's
rights," she said
The Prime Minister in her message also expressed strong
commitment to continue the present government's
development projects across the country for balanced
development and prosperity of the people.
Mentioning the introduction of electronic voting system in
the Chittagong city corporation elections, she said this
is another step towards turning Bangladesh into a modern
digital country.
Meanwhile, BNP Chair-person Khaleda Zia greeted the
newly-elected mayor of Chittagong City Corporation (CCC)
Mohammad Manjur Alam and newly-elected councilors for
their win in the CCC elections on Thursday. In a message
of felicitation on Friday, Khaleda Zia also congratulated
the people of Chittagong city for electing Manju as CCC
mayor.
She conveyed her deep sympathy to polling agents of Manju,
BNP activists and the voters, who were harassed, attacked
and tortured on the polling day. The BNP chief thanked all
concerned officials, media men and members of the law
enforcing agencies for properly performing their duties.
Some reasons for
Mohiuddin’s defeat
UNB, Dhaka
What could be the reasons behind the fall of a 'political
star' like ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury in Thursday's mayoral
race for Chittagong City Corporation?
Is it incumbency factor or some mistakes he committed
during the last part of his tenure in the third
consecutive term?
Common people in Chittagong believe Mohiuddin Chowdhury
deserved this big defeat. They also feel it is not the
charisma of Manjur Alam Manju; rather, Mohiuddin Chowdhury
himself dug his own grave.
People find a number of reasons behind the election
debacle of a popular, experienced and charismatic
politician like Mohiuddin Chowdhury who ran CCC for 17
years as mayor. People had expected a close fight between
the two major contenders, not so big a defeat for
Mohiuddin as transpired at the end of vote counting.
Difference of nearly one lakh votes (95,528) with Manju is
not a trivial matter.
Elected for three consecutive terms, former mayor
Mohiuddin has been credited with carrying out extensive
infrastructural development works and as an efficient
local administrator of Chittagong city. During his tenure,
secondary schools for girls were built in almost every
Ward, and new post-school intermediate and higher
education colleges were established.
Another key achievement of Mohiuddin was building a
network of public health facilities - Urban Primary Health
Centres, which enabled lower and lower-middle class people
to receive basic healthcare before seeing a consultant
doctor at government or private hospitals. Mohiuddin was
the first city Mayor in the country to establish a private
university - Premier University, Chittgaong sponsored by
the CCC.
But all his achievements were apparently overshadowed by a
number of follies he committed during his last term.
Observers believe that non-implementation of his 40-point
election pledge, transforming the CCC into a commercial
institution, running Awami League in Chittagong
disregarding opinions of other leaders of the party and
lack of coordination within Chittagong city unit of the
party might be some of the reasons behind Mohiuddin's
debacle. It is believed that Mohiuddin managed victory in
the last elections by committing to the people 20- and
40-point election pledges, which he could not fully
implement.
Before the CCC polls in 2005, Mohiuddin pledged to expand
Chittagong metropolitan area to 120 sq kms from 60 sq kms
but the Chittagong metropolitan area was not expanded. He
also pledged to remove water and sanitation problems but
those remained unresolved. He set up a commercial
institution named Premier Drinking Water without solving
the water crisis. Mohiuddin took an initiative to set up
power plant under the management of CCC but not a single
watt of electricity could be generated. Intra-party feud
was another major reason behind Mohiuddin's fall.
Back Page
Decades of unplanned urbanization
catching up on Dhaka city
UNB, Dhaka
The capital of Bangladesh is faced with an uphill task in
the coming decades of having to deal with an increased
threat of mostly manmade catastrophes, as decades of
unplanned urbanization finally starts to catch up on the
city and its 13 million residents.
That is unless the proposed Detailed Area Plan (DAP) is
implemented with due urgency, according to urban planners
and researchers.
They fear that the city dwellers would have to lead
miserable lives in near future as the unplanned nature of
the growth of urbanization has emaciated the supporting
environment - destroying surrounding rivers and canals,
and filling up of low-lying areas.
Water logging will soon be a serious problem for the city
as the drainage system is too inadequate for rainwater
disposal, Urban Management and Planning Researcher Dr
Maksudur Rahman told UNB.
He said: "Due to destruction of our water bodies, rivers
and canals inside and outside the city, the rainwater
cannot flow smoothly. Even with little rainfall water
logging is a common phenomenon in the city. The problem of
water logging will intensify in future."
Blaming the greedy real estate developers, he said a
section of developers has been trying to create hindrances
against implementation of the DAP for their own interest
to make more money.
"We know the developers construct buildings in low areas,
where such buildings are quite vulnerable to disasters… an
earthquake may cause many buildings to collapse."
Dr Maksudur Rahman, also teacher of the Geography and
Environmental Science at Dhaka University, urged the
government to immediately approve the Detailed Area Plan
(DAP) of the Dhaka city to check unplanned urbanization
and save the city from man-made catastrophes.
Planner Dr Shaukot Ali Khan, former chief of national
project of the Dhaka Metropolitan Development Plan (DMDP),
said that although the DMDP was announced in 1997, the
plan has not been implemented till date.
About the DAP, he said the DAP is the lower stage of the
DMDP. If the proposed DAP is in line with the master-plan
(DMDP), it needs to be implemented immediately.
Referring to the 590 square miles of Dhaka city under the
DAP, Dr. Shaukot said that if the authorities concerned do
not take steps to put an end to unplanned urbanization,
the city will be faced with a series of disasters due to
heavy flow of water from upstream.
Dr Shaukot said if the government does not approve the
DAP, Dhaka city will turn into a city of ruins, where the
city dwellers will in the near future see even larger
catastrophes than Nimtali and Begunbari.
President of Bangladesh Institute of Planners (BIP) Dr
Sarwar Jahan said that the government has taken many
comprehensive measures to develop the country, but there
is still no urban policy to control the rapid growth of
urbanization.
"Some 30 per cent of the population is now living in urban
areas and the figure will rise to 50 per cent in the next
thirty years. So, the government should allocate requisite
funds for urban development."
Referring to the untold suffering from the city's dreaded
traffic congestion, Dr Sarwar Jahan stressed the need for
introducing the 'Bus Rapid Transit System' immediately to
reduce the longstanding traffic jam in the city.
Dhaka will be the second largest city in the world (in
terms of population) by 2015, next to Tokyo, with a growth
of urban population at a rate of 3.1 percent per year,
according to a report of the
United Nations Population Division on agglomeration in the
world cities.
By then, the projected population of the metropolis will
be some 21.1 million.
In 1950s, Dhaka's total population was a mere 417,000.
With an average 6.6 percent growth, the population jumped
to about 2.17 million in the next 25 years. It has not
looked back since. But the city failed to look forward
with the necessary intent and purpose to cope with the
ever increasing problem.
Results of CCC ward
councilors polls
BSS, Chittagong
The Election Commission on Friday announced the results of
councilor election in the Chittagong City Corporation.
The ward councilors elected are as follows:
Name of Councilors Name of Wards
M Shah Jahan South Pahartali
Farid Ahmad Chowdhury Jalalabad
Alhaj Shafiqul Islam Panchlaish
Mahbubul Alam Chandgaon
Mohammad Azam Mohora
Mohammad Hasan Liton East Sholoshahar
S M Iqbal Hossain West Sholoshahar
Shamsuzzaman Helali Sholakbahar
Abdus Sattar Selim North Pahartali
Nesar Uddin Ahmad North Kattoli
Morshed Alam Chowdhury South Kattoli
Babul Huq Sharaipara
Mahfuzul Alam Pahartali
Abul Fazal Kabir Ahmad Lalkhan Bazar
Gias Uddin Bagmoniram
Sayed Golam Haider Mintu Chawkbazar
A K M Jafrul Islam West Bakalia
Mohammad Toyab East Bakalia
Alhaj Mohammad Yasin Chy South Bakalia
Hasan Mohmud Hasni Dewan Bazar
Bijoy Kumar Chy Jamalkhan
Abdul Malek Anayet Bazar
Niaz Mohammad Khan North Pathantuli
Sirajul Islam Agrabad
Abdus Sabur Liton Rampur
Mohammad Hossain Halishahar
Mohammad Sekandar South Agrabad
Nazrul Islam Bahadur Pathantuli
Shahidul Islam West Madarbari
Jahangir Alam Chy East Madarbari
Didarur Rahman Alkaran
Johurlal Hazari Anderkilla
Johurul Alam Dubash Firinghi Bazar
Mohammad Ismail Patharghata
Hajee Nurul Huq Bakshirhat
Hajee Jahangir Alam Chy Gushaildanga
Hasan Murad Chy North-middle Halishahar
Golam Mahmud ChuSouth-middle Halishahar
Sharfaraz Kader South Halishahar
Abdul Barek North Pathenga
Nurul Abser South Pathenga
The 14 female councilors elected for reserved seats are as
follows:
1. Fedowsi Bagum Munni
2. Jubaida Nargis Khan
3. Jahanara Begum
4. Arju Shahabuddin
5. Monowara Begum Moni
6. Shaheda Kashem Sathi
7. Anjuman Ara Begum
8. Rekha Alam Chowdhury
9. Rehana Begum Ranu
10. Ferdows Ara Begum
11. Jannatul Ferdows Popy
12. Afroza Kalam
13. Lutfunnesa Dobash
14. Shahanur Begum.
Police
use teargas to disperse AL-BNP activists
UNB, Chittagong
Police resorted to lathi charge, fired tear gas canisters
and rubber bullets to disperse clashing BNP and AL
activists near stadium at about 11-30 pm on Thursday in
violence over alleged delay in announcing the results of
the City Corporation polls held on Thursday.
Agitating BNP activists who tried to break open the police
cordon at Kazir Dewri and Lalkhan Bazzar to reach the
stadium gymnasium where the counting of votes was
continuing. They clashed with Awami League supporters and
chased each other.
Riot geared police used club, fired a series of tear gas
shells and rubber bullets to disperse the clashing groups.
Army and RAB rushed to the spot. Their presence brought
the situation under control as the clashing groups ran
away.
City BNP secretary Dr Shahadat Hossain claimed that at
least 20 of his party activists were wounded in police
action.
Away from the trouble scene, in front of Election Control
Room BNP activists clashed with police in their bid to
enter the premises. Angry workers burnt at least two
motorbikes and damaged several vehicles. They also burnt
used tyres on the street.
Counting of votes in some polling centres was suspended in
the wake of sudden outbreak of post-election violence.
Shafique for proper
application of laws to stop faulty building construction
BSS, Dhaka
Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Barrister
Shafique Ahmed on Friday urged the authorities concerned
to ensure proper application of existing
laws to stop construction of hazardous buildings. The
authorities concerned would have to work sincerely to stop
construction of faulty buildings, he said while speaking
as
the chief guest at a roundtable discussion at the
Bangladesh Institute of Planners (BIP) auditorium in the
city, said an official release.
The law minister said all would have to show respect to
laws. The buildings become risky because of the use of
faulty designs, unapproved designs and tampered designs,
he added.
'Mukto Akash', a Bangla paper, organised the discussion on
"Faulty Buildings in Dhaka and Fire Incidents."
Presided over by Mukto Akash Advisory Editor Engineer M
Abdul Awal, the meeting was addressed by University Grants
Commission (UGC) Chairman Prof Nazrul Islam, RAJUK
Chairman Nurul Huda, university teachers, engineers,
architects and representatives from different
organizations.
Former RAJUK chief engineer M Emdadul Islam presented the
keynote paper.
The law minister said injunctions from the court are
preventing the authorities from taking actions against
many risky buildings.
The cases relating to building constructions could be
settled by forming special benches in the High Court, he
observed.
The law minister sought suggestions from relevant experts,
if there is lacking in the laws relating to building
construction.
RAJUK Chairman Nurul Huda said an environment-friendly
Dhaka city would be developed as per designs in the
Detailed Area Plan. He sought cooperation of all in this
regard.
Exemplary
punishment to land grabbers demanded
BSS, Dhaka
Speakers at a sit-in programme on Friday exemplary
punishment to the grabbers of water bodies, hills and
lands to protect the country's environment.
They also called on the government to implement the
detailed area plan (DAP) by ignoring all threats from a
section of realtors.
Green Belt Trust, an organization of young
environmentalists, arranged the programme in front of the
Institute of Fine Arts of Dhaka University. Chairman of
Paribesh Bachao Andolan (BAPA) Abu Naser Khan, Director
General of Green Belt Jashim Qatari, Executive Director
Abdullah Abu, Wonders Foundation President Ataullah Khan,
President of the Cyber Cafe Association Nazmul Karim Suman,
Alamgir Hossain of Natural Love People, Mehbub Papon of
the Green Belt and Shamsul Kabir of Sachetan Nagorik Samaj
spoke on the occasion.
Abu Naser Khan said floods and waterlogging are being
created in the capital following a short spell of rains,
and rain water could not be drained out due to lack of
water reservoirs.
"But some realtors are engaged in profiteering by grabbing
the existing water bodies ignoring the country's law,
while the concerned authorities remain silent in this
regard," he said.
Other speakers said that a section of realtors have become
desperate to grab water bodies in the city by violating
the existing law of the country. They do not hesitate to
give threat to the concerned minister, environmentalists
and human rights activists for gaining their interest,
they said.
They also urged the government to play a strong role in
stopping the illegal activities of a section of realtors.
Country’s 5th
population, housing census in March 2011
UNB, Dhaka
The next Population and Housing Census will be held across
the country in March 2011 with the focus on accuracy
covering all the areas.
This will be the 5th census in the country after the last
census was held in 2001. The population census is held
every ten years. The process will be implemented through
digital method to ensure more accuracy.
Earlier, the four Population and Housing Census were held
in 1974, 1981, 1991 and 2001. The country's population was
7,63,98,000 in 1974; the number was 8,99,12,000 in 1981;
it was 11,14,55,185 in 1991 while the population rose to
13,05,22,598 in 2001.
Country's population is expected to exceed over 15 crore,
said Ashim Kumar Dey, Director of the Census Wing of
Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).
"The next census process will be almost the same in 2001,
but this time changes have been made in the number of
enumeration area and the questionnaire," he told UNB.
Dey informed that this time each of the enumeration area
will cover 120 households compared to 100 households in
the last census.
Besides, he said, the number of questions has also been
reduced to 25 from the previous 28 to ease the task of the
enumerators without losing any vital information.
On completion of the five-day census that will enumerate a
person where he/she stay on the census night, the
preliminary report will be published by June 2011 and the
final report by December 2012. The Census Wing Director
said that this time they will bring in the ethnic
communities under the process whereas they were counted as
only ethnic households.
Editorial
The CCC election:
verdict for change
People
of Chittagong city has created another history by exercising
their voting rights peacefully in the Chittagong City
Corporation (CCC) election on Thursday. The voters have
rejected the ruling Awami League-backed candidate ABM
Mohiuddin Chowdhury and elected the opposition BNP-backed
contender Manjurul Alam Manju as the Chairman of Chittagong
City Corporation in a big margin of 95,528 votes . Manjurul
Alam bagged 479,145 votes while Mohiuddin Chowdhury polled
383,617 votes. Out of a total of 16,88,677 voters 8,85,064
voters cast their votes and 35,506 votes were cancelled.
Returning officer Jesmin Tuli announced the results on Friday
morning declaring Manjur as elected mayor unofficially.
This is a repetition of history in the sense that in 2005
voters have elected then opposition AL-backed candidate
Mohiuddin Chowdury against then ruling BNP backed candidate
Mir Nasiruddin. Thus the result is a sweet political revenge
by BNP. More than that the result of the Thursdays election is
a clear verdict for change as Mohiuddin was Chittagong Mayor
for three terms. The voters in general might have been looking
for a new 'City Father' to give them something new.
The CCC poll was held peacefully and contested by the two
major parties nicely without any major untoward incident. That
the election concluded in a peaceful manner is a great
achievement for country's democratic process. The Election
Commission, the contesting parties and the voters deserve
credit and thanks for this. In Fact, no serious allegation of
any irregularity in the election was raised by any candidate.
The CEC expressed satisfaction over the peaceful holding of
the poll which also marked the beginning of a new chapter in
the country's election history through the introduction of
electronic voting machines.
There is every reason for BNP to be jubilant and for Awami
League to be disappointed. Because the Chittagong City
Corporation election results are likely to have far reaching
political consequences- beyond the boundary of the corporation
and in the arena of national politics. This was a local body
election and was fought basically on the basis of local
issues. So, it may not be wise to say that the results
indicate the support of majority people of the country for BNP
and against Awami League. But yet it can not be denied that
the election results in Chittagong are a boost for otherwise
troubled BNP and a setback for over confident Awami League
which apparently forgot to continue organizational activities
after last general election. The results are perhaps sure to
influence the future course of national politics.
The victory of Manjurul Alam may appear to many as surprising
as the victory of Mohiuddin was widely predicted. But Manjur
succeeded to win the electoral battle mainly by dint of his
simplicity and good reputation and more importantly consequent
upon the hard labour of BNP activists who worked unitedly. On
the other hand, Mohiuddin's defeat may be attributed to a
large section of voter's discontent accumulated in their minds
during his long 'rule'. Besides, disunity among AL rank and
file also may have contributed to his debacle. However, AL has
conceded the defeat and should be praised for the fact that it
did not influence the Election Commission to get Mohiuddin
elected.
The victory of Manju in CCC poll is a major political recovery
of BNP after it suffered a disaster in the 2008 general
election and the defeat in this year's Bhola by-election . On
the other hand, Mohiuddin's defeat is a jolt for AL which
achieved a historic electoral victory in 2008. The CCC poll
was an acid test of popularity and battle of prestige for AL
and BNP. BNP has won and AL has lost. This is part of the
political game and all should accept it with good grace as
people's desire and try in future to win the hearts and minds
of the people who are the ultimate authorities to say the last
word.
We congratulate Manjurul Alam Manju on his election as the CCC
Mayor. We wish him and the people CCC all success in their new
journey towards development and prosperity of the Port City
and its residents.
Unruly BCL
activists
A
section of pro-government Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL)
activists have been resorting to atrocities including
factional clashes, campus violence, admission trade, extortion
and tender manipulation. These is no let up in these
activities despite repeated warning by ruling leaders. About
70 BCL activists were injured in factional clashes in
Wednesday and Thursday alone. On Thursday at least 50 BCL
activists were injured in in-fighting during student union
election of Bangabandhu University College Gopalganj. Five of
the injured were admitted to the Sadar Hospital. On the
previous day, at least four BCL activists were injured, two of
them critically, as two rival groups clashed for domination
over the meeting in the city. On the same day, fifteen people,
including a teacher, were injured in a clash between two
groups of BCL in Chandraganj Kafil Uddin Degree College in
Sadar upazila of Laxmipur on Wednesday. Two groups of BCL
activists clashed over admission into the college, causing the
injuries .
Many such incidents took place over the last 15 months. Late
last month cadres of BCL following a factional rivalry cut off
right hand of a Jubo League activist in Kathalbari area of
Sadar upazila under Kurigram Tuesday midnight. The victim was
identified as Uzzal. A move is in progress to reorganize the
BCL through council meeting. But, that failed to deter the
unruly BCL activities from indulging in such activities. They
have crossed all limits. The ruling leaders should take
necessary steps to bring these activists under control.
Analysis
Looking for lithium
In a popular television show this week, the
host openly named Riaz Laljee as the man causing Pakistan
Steel Mills (PSM) a loss of 20 billion rupees in just two
years. "He is a friend of Asif Zardari", accused the anchor.
Anjum Niaz
The writer is a
freelance journalist with over twenty years of experience in
national and international reporting
Heard the latest? The Pentagon has discovered huge minefields
of lithium in Afghanistan which once unearthed will make the
country "Saudi Arabia of lithium." The Afghans will be richer
by one trillion dollars. Wow! Unbelievable. The metal is used
for battery cells. In the last decade 'Lithium' was also
billed a miracle drug that cured mental patients suffering
from bi-polar disease and severe psychosis. The symptoms
betrayed by such sufferers were manic depression,
hyperactivity, rushed speech, poor judgment and aggression.
Zardari should swiftly stand in the queue to be the first to
sign a pact with Karzai for the import of lithium. He should
then contract a pharmaceutical company to convert the raw
material into tablets and personally supervise the mass
administration of the drug (just as Benazir popped polio drops
into kids' mouths) among all his cabinet ministers, cronies,
members of parliament, presidential hangers-on and riff-raff.
He must set the example by first ingesting the tablet himself
each day (if he's not on it already - remember he was
diagnosed with the above symptoms as recently as three years
ago in New York) and later getting
his prime minister to swallow it followed by Babar Awan, Latif
Khosa, Zulfiqar Mirza and Rehman Malik. He'll have to make
sure they don't dodge the pill, considering they're habitual
dodgers.
This is one way Pakistan can be saved.
The second involves some soul-searching. I watched Bhutto, the
film produced by Benazir's long-time friend and Pakistan's
heftily-paid Washington lobbyist Mark Siegel. Screened in
Rawalpindi's cinema just yards away from the spot where Z A
Bhutto was hanged and another mile or two away from his
tormenter Zia's Army House, and another few miles away from
the road where Benazir slumped into a lifeless heap, there was
hardly a dry eye as the movie ended. Our tears welled up
watching her two daughters and her husband talk of her death.
Asif Zardari cried when he heard his wife had passed away. And
I cried with him as he sobbed softly on the screen before me.
Don't let Benazir Bhutto's sacrifice go down the drain, Mr
President. Lugging her portrait around and surrounding
yourself with her photos is not enough. You've surrounded
yourself with greedy, cruel, obstinate, unscrupulous
barbarians who are determined to drag you and the PPP down. In
the name of God, stop! How can you allow your law minister,
who according to PPP activist Israr Shah, distributed
sweetmeats when Z A Bhutto was hanged, to challenge the
Supreme Court and cause you shame and ignominy every day?
The prime minister says he's working for you. He's working for
himself and his biradari. Go around Multan and ask anyone on
the street what MBBS stands for. "Mian, biwi, bachay sub" is
the answer you will get. Who knows Gilani too may quietly be
collecting material against his president and patron to be
used as testimony against Zardari one day, not too far in the
future.
That's why I think it's critical for Zardari to watch Bhutto
along with his henchmen so that they realise the triumph of
tragedy being allowed to play at their own hands - unknowingly
or knowingly. It's the same old story. The destiny of the
Bhuttos and Pakistan is like the congenital twins joined at
the hip. Neither can do without the other. And yet each twin
is a parasite sucking life out of the other to survive.
Their lives are spawned by death - not once but four times in
the house of Bhuttos; fierce wars with India cutting asunder
the house of Pakistan; the treachery by America, not once but
many times over ending in Z A Bhutto's, Zia's and even
Benazir's elimination; tales of corruption, not once but four
times dragging the house of democracy to dust; and yet the
saga continues…
If you still don't get the picture I sketch before you, then
go and see Bhutto, the film!
Today the triumph of tragedy is writ large on the face of
Pakistan. The actors' faces have changed but the game in town
is the same. Instead of Gen Musharraf, we have Gen Kayani;
instead of Representative Charlie Wilson's millions for the
mujhaideen, we have the Kerry-Lugar Bill; instead of
freedom-fighters, we have the Taliban; instead of Nawaz
Sharif's louts attacking the Supreme Court, we have Babar Awan
and Latif Khosa committing contempt of court, but the story
line is the same. I've seen history take shape before my eyes
since the days of 'Field Marshal' Ayub Khan. I've witnessed
his 'Decade of Development' and thereafter his ignominious
downfall. I've seen ZAB ascend the throne and take charge of
our destinies with us clinging to his each word.
I've seen him waste away slowly in his death cell with us
praying to God to save his life. I've seen people come out on
the streets and rejoice at the news of Zia's plane crash. I've
seen the transformation of the Sharifs from Gowalmandi to
Model Town and on to Raiwind Palace and later to Park Lane in
London. I've seen the change in fortunes of Bambino cinema
owner Asif Zardari to 70 Clifton and then to Bilawal House and
then to the PM House twice and on to Trump Towers in Manhattan
and now ending up in the Presidency today! In between he's
been in jail for eleven years on corruption charges which have
earned him the universal title of 'Mr 10 per cent."
Why then is Asif Zardari allowing a replay of his past
mistakes on a daily basis? Why then is he tempting the gods to
destroy him and the party that his wife sacrificed her life
for?
Why is he allowing his cronies to enjoy the fruits of Benazir
Bhutto's martyrdom? These scumbags don't deserve it.
Let's start with Riaz Laljee (RL). In a popular television
show this week, the host openly named Riaz Laljee as the man
causing Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) a loss of 20 billion rupees
in just two years. "He is a friend of Asif Zardari", accused
the anchor. As owner of Abbas Steel Group, RL literally ran
the show by grabbing all the production rights and funnelling
the produce to his empire.
Chairman Mueen Aftab, now in jail, danced to his tune, even
stopping all kinds of production to only make a special item
ordered by RL and sold to him at 35 per cent discount. "Rasool
Bakhsh Phulpoto, who already had a criminal FIR lodged against
him on charges of serious financial irregularities, was made
the managing director because he belonged to the same village
as Zardari's."
The fourth crook to bring ruin and disaster to PSM is Dr
Kamran Akmal. He's the chap whose job was to divert the
containers carrying raw material for PSM to Abbas Steel. He's
absconded to Houston and set up business worth millions of
dollars. The fifth is Rashid Abro, a relative of the president
who procured a five billion worth of coal contract for RL, all
for free.
Najam Sethi, another political TV commentator, has predicted
that Zardari's government faces danger in the months of July
and August. "It is not the Supreme Court but the MQM that will
play a definitive role." Sethi's smirks and smiles -
innocently charming but cunning - covered his face as he
spoke. He's been very circuitous in his comments in the past,
but now he's talking clearly and firmly. Is there something
that he knows more than us all?
Is the federal government going?
Email: anjumniaz@rocketmail.com
Iran deal can
still work
Does Obama know that after the Shah's overthrow and the
mullahs took over that initially Iran was allowed to buy
uranium fuel from the US but that soon after the US
stopped the deal, but didn't give Iran its money back?
Jonathan Power
Memories
are short when it comes to realpolitik. President Barack
Obama says he was only a boy when the Vietnam War was
going on so it is not imprinted on his consciousness. I
wonder if he, or indeed any of the current youngish
Western leadership, recalls that the US helped the deposed
dictator of Iran, Shah Mohammad-Reza Pahlavi, get Iran's
nuclear research underway, with no caveats about enriching
uranium?
Does Obama know that after the Shah's overthrow and the
mullahs took over that initially Iran was allowed to buy
uranium fuel from the US but that soon after the US
stopped the deal, but didn't give Iran its money back?
Does Obama know how it came to be that the US turned a
blind eye to Israel's creation of the atomic bomb? Has
President Nicolas Sarkozy fully absorbed the implications
of the French nuclear aid given to Israel in the early
days of bomb-making?
Does Obama know the history of the US relationship with
Brazil? Does he know that, only thanks to the US blind
eye, Brazil was allowed without any public pillorying to
build up a very successful bomb-grade enrichment programme?
If Brazil wanted to make a bomb it would take at the most
a year.
Thankfully, Brazil and Argentina, at one time antagonists,
agreed together to shelve their nuclear bomb programmes.
That's what gives Brazil credibility with its Iran
diplomacy. It knows what it is talking about.
Is Obama aware of Japan's huge stockpile of plutonium
built up in part by importing European nuclear waste and
reprocessing it? The Europeans have not asked for the
plutonium to be returned to them because they say they
have nowhere to store it. If Japan ever promoted to the
premiership one of its right wing politicians who hates
China maybe Japan would very rapidly build a bomb.
Meanwhile, the waste uranium travels the world from Europe
to Japan in ships just waiting to be hijacked.
As the famous seventeenth century writer of maxims, the
Duke of La Rochefoucauld, wrote, 'Hypocrisy is the tribute
which vice pays to virtue.'
That's for the past. For the present, has the press in the
US and Europe given much space to either of two grand old
men, Hans Blix and Mohamed El Baradei, who have directed
the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), a UN body
that even President George W. Bush respected and gave
added funds to?They have both said there is much of value
in the Brazilian-Turkish understanding with Iran and if it
were implemented it would be a significant stepping stone
towards creating a climate of trust and a fuller
agreement.
Neither has there been much discussion of Obama's letter
sent to President Luiz Ignacio Lula da Silva of Brazil
before he flew to Teheran. Now published, it seems to
welcome Brazil's initiative. But from the outset Secretary
of State Hillary Clinton appeared more critical. Was there
a division here? Is it, as Zbigniew Brzezinski, a former
US national security advisor, recently suggested, a
question of the second tier senior officials, who do much
of the policy framing, yet whose ranks are made up partly
of people who disagree with the administration's posture
on this or that subject, trying to lead the president by
the nose and not giving him all the options, properly
weighted? As Obama said early on, changing US foreign
policy is like turning round one of the super large oil
tankers at sea. President Richard Nixon got round
entrenched interests in the higher echelons of the Defence,
State departments and the military by entrusting Henry
Kissinger to conduct sensitive diplomacy clandestinely,
reporting only to him.
The truth is that there is a lot in what Brazil and Turkey
achieved with Iran. It should not be rubbished and the
rest of the world, not least Europe, should stand up for
it.
Under the Brazil-Turkey-Iran accord, 1,200 kilogrammes of
low enriched uranium would be shipped to Turkey where it
would be stored under IAEA supervision. But Iran reserved
the right to continue uranium enrichment, which, rightly,
the US, Russia and Europe were suspicious of.
However, the US had welcomed an earlier Russian and
French-brokered deal that was on the same lines. But
suddenly, a week after, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
rejected it, usurping his negotiating team. The Americans
say that was then and now its demands have changed since
Iran has manufactured a larger quantity of enriched
uranium.
The UN sanctions recently passed were the whip cracking.
This was not the way to do it. The Brazil-Turkey-Iran deal
was inadequate, but it was a useful beginning that in the
right atmosphere could have been constructively built on.
In Iran's eyes the US rejection was just another step to
do Iran down, indulge in further hypocrisy and play fast
and loose with the facts as it has long done.
Jonathan Power is a London-based foreign policy
commentator
Viewpoints
Struggles are not lost
Israel can
kill innocent and hapless Palestinians but cannot kill their
determination to resist the illegal Israeli occupation.
Nauman Asghar
Israel's
assault on Freedom Flotilla has once again exposed its blatant
arrogance and its determination to starve to death the 1.5
million inhabitants of the Gaza Strip as it continues to deny
them their universally recognised right to life. The mild
reaction of the US has shows that the Obama administration is
not ready to deliver on its promises to the Muslim world at
the cost of annoying its watchdog in the Middle East. The
history of the State of Israel makes it indubitably clear that
all the principles and norms of international laws become
insignificant in the realm of realpolitik.
The UN Charter quite explicitly points out that use of force
is allowed only under two conditions; in the case of
individual self-defence when an 'armed attack occurs' or in
the case of Security Council's authorisation. Israel could use
neither of these justifications.
Apologists for Israeli aggression proffer the argument that
the UN Charter cannot be applied to the West Bank and Gaza
Strip since they do not formally constitute a state and are
not a party to the Charter. Hence, they say, Israel is not
bound to respect their sovereignty. There's little reason to
take these objections seriously because the PLO is the sole
liberation movement that has been granted the status of
observer by the United Nations.
Besides, the UN Resolution 242 condemns, in unmistakable
terms, Israeli annexation of Palestinian territory occupied
after the 1967 war. Moreover, the International Court of
Justice in its judgment in 2004 declared the Israeli
settlements as illegal under international law. Also, the
much-cited San Remo Manual, used by Israel to justify its
attacks on the flotilla, is a non-starter as a legal
permission certificate.
There is nothing in the San Remo Manual that allows a
belligerent state to target and kill civilians who are known
to be on a non-violent humanitarian mission in international
waters, especially when they are dedicated to opposing an
illegal embargo. The Manual allows countries to intercept
"merchant vessels" in international waters if the vessels are
believed to be carrying contraband, or engaged in belligerent
acts or acting as auxiliaries to the enemy's armed forces.
There is no legitimate basis for invoking the San Remo Manual
in case of the Freedom Flotilla.
Since the ship was sailing in the high seas, the underlying
international law that applies here is the 'exclusive flag
jurisdiction', which has been identified as part of the
customary international law by the Permanent Court of
International Justice in 1927 (The Lotus Case: France v
Turkey): "It is certainly true that - apart from certain
special cases which are defined by international law - vessels
on the high seas are subject to no authority except that of
the State whose flag they fly". Since the ship was flying a
Turkish flag it was only subject to Turkish jurisdiction.
The 1982 Convention on Law of the Sea provides for the
"innocent passage" of ships in international waters if their
behaviour is not deemed "prejudicial to the peace, good order
or the security" of the respective coastal state. The attack
on the Freedom Flotilla took place 90 miles offshore, clearly
outside of Israel's sovereignty (which extends no further than
12 miles from Israel's coast), and in a zone where
international Law of the Sea is clearly applicable. Therefore,
the Israeli act of violence against the ships on high seas
come within the purview of 'piracy'.
In addition, the 1988 IMO Convention on the Suppression of
Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Maritime Navigation (to
which Israel is a party) also makes the action of the Israeli
navy unlawful. Article 3 of the IMO Convention provides that a
person commits an offence if that person unlawfully and
intentionally:
a. Seizes or exercises control over a ship by force or threat
thereof or any other form of intimidation; or b. Performs an
act of violence against a person onboard a ship if that act is
likely to endanger the safe navigation of that ship.
Furthermore, as an occupying power, Israel is obliged by
international humanitarian law - specifically the Hague
Regulations of 1907, the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 and
the First Additional Protocol to the Fourth Geneva Convention
- to ensure the protection of civilians and individuals not
taking part in hostilities. The vessels were on a
philanthropic mission, carrying humanitarian supplies. Even if
Israel were in a state of war with any of the countries whose
people were aboard the flotilla, it couldn't have captured the
vessels according to the terms of the Hague Convention of
1907.
The implications of Israel's aggression are far-reaching and
will impact upon the efforts to restore peace in the Middle
East. The western powers must realise that they cannot
dissuade Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons if they fail to
rein in Israel's aggression. As a result of this deed, Israel
has lost the support of its ally Turkey while the Palestinians
have gained worldwide moral support. In fact, Israel's
rejection of the UN proposal to hold an international inquiry
into this matter has further damaged its position. But, the
Israeli prime minister continues to defend the attack by
accusing the aid ships of 'provocative actions'. Edward Said
remarkably noted, "The struggles for justice and peace may be
protracted but they are hardly lost."
Israel can kill innocent and hapless Palestinians but cannot
kill their determination to resist the illegal Israeli
occupation.
The writer is an advocate. Email: naumanlawyer@gmail.com
On the ground
in Osh
Witnesses said
the attacks by the Kyrgyz population on the Uzbek minority
were attempted genocide.
Luke Harding
It
was early afternoon when the mob surged down an alley of
neat rose bushes and halted outside Zarifa's house. The
Kyrgyz men broke into her courtyard and sat Zarifa down
next to a cherry tree. They asked her a couple of
questions.
After confirming she was an ethnic Uzbek, they raped her
and cut off her fingers. After that they killed her and
her small son, throwing their bodies into the street. They
then moved on to the next house.
"They were like beasts," Zarifa's neighbour, Bakhtir
Irgayshon, said, pointing to the gutted bed-frame where
she had been assaulted. A few pots and pans remained; the
rest of the family home was a charred ruin. Zarifa's
husband, Ilham, was missing, Irgayshon said, probably
dead. Only his mother, Adina, survived the
Kyrgyz-instigated conflagration that engulfed the
neighbourhood of Cheremushki.
The scale of the ethnic killing that took place in Osh -
as well as in other towns and villages in southern
Kyrgyzstan - was grimly obvious. In the next street were
the remains of another victim. He burned to death in his
bed. Not much was left, only a jigsaw-like spine and hip.
Nearby, Uzbek survivors were retrieving the bodies of
seven small children. They had been incinerated, together
with their mother, while cowering in a dark cellar.
Witnesses said the attacks by the Kyrgyz population on the
Uzbek minority were attempted genocide.
The violence that erupted in Osh was possibly ignited by a
row in a casino. But much of it appeared coordinated and
planned, Uzbeks said. The attacks took the prosperous
outlying Uzbek areas of town unawares.
"It started on Friday lunchtime," said Rustam, an Uzbek
lawyer. "It came in three distinct waves. The Kyrgyz
entered Cheremushki district driving an armoured personnel
carrier. This paved the way. Several of them were wearing
army uniforms. At first we felt relieved. Someone had come
to rescue us, we thought! Then [they] opened fire and
started shooting people randomly.
"Behind them was the second wave. This was a mob of about
300 Kyrgyz youths armed with automatic weapons. Most were
very young - between 15 and 20 years old. The third wave
was made up of looters and included women and young boys.
They stole everything of value, piling it into cars. Then
they set our houses on fire."
According to Rustam the official toll from the riots - 178
dead and 1,800 injured - is a woeful underestimate. In
reality, around 2,000 Uzbeks were slaughtered, he said, as
the pogroms quickly spread from Osh to Jalal-Abad, 25
miles away, and other Uzbek villages in the south. Rustam
said: "I carried 27 bodies myself. They were just bones.
We are talking here about genocide."
With the violence largely now spent, and only the
occasional gunshot disturbing Osh's evening curfew,
survivors debated who was to blame. Some suggested
Kyrgyzstan's ousted president, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, was
behind [it], describing the violence as a premeditated
attempt by him to take revenge on the new leadership.
Bakiyev fled the country in April after bloody protests in
the capital, Bishkek. His supporters remain in control in
much of the south. They dominate Osh's mono-ethnic Kyrgyz
police and power structures, and also control the local
mayor's office.
Few believe the riots could have taken place without the
local administration's connivance. But it is clear that
other grievances are at play. Ethnic Uzbeks make up 15 per
cent of Kyrgyzstan's 5.6 million population and dominate
the towns of Osh and Jalal-Abad. These settlements near
the Fergana valley ended up in Kyrgyzstan by accident,
when Lenin dumped them there in 1924.
Rustam acknowledged that the town's Uzbeks were usually
better off than their Kyrgyz neighbours. "Since the Silk
Road, we've been involved in commerce and trade. We are
successful. The Kyrgyz resent this."
When the trouble started, thousands of Uzbeks fled to the
Uzbekistan border, just three miles from Osh. Not everyone
made it: one witness described how two Uzbek youths drove
into a Kyrgyz mob in the centre of town. "They pulled the
two Uzbek boys out of the car, and killed them in less
than five minutes using sticks and knives. Then they
dumped them in the Ak-Bura river," said Maya Tashbolotova,
who watched, peering over the fence of her guesthouse.
So far, tens of thousands of refugees have crossed into
Uzbekistan. According to Unicef, 90 per cent of them are
children.
There has not been much sign of humanitarian relief, with
Kyrgyz drivers too scared to enter Uzbek neighbourhoods.
Uzbeks had demarcated their territory by felling maple
trees and building makeshift barricades with burned-out
cars. Nearby, Kyrgyz soldiers had set up checkpoints in a
post-facto show of strength. Some Kyrgyz locals blamed the
riots on Uzbek youths, who they said ransacked a local
casino in a dispute over money.
Remembering Lenin
After 1917, Lenin did not repay those socialists with any
kindness. That was his way. And now his way is gone.
Meghnad Desai
When
I was in my teens in the Fifties, we used to have debates
about Gandhi versus Lenin. Who was greater? Whose message
would win in the end? Of course, the younger people opted
for Lenin since the USSR was all the rage.
Gandhi was reactionary and a class compromiser. Our elders
were shocked. Now fifty years on, Lenin is a fading
presence. The Chinese may paste his picture on a banner
along with those of Marx, Engels and Stalin, but they do
not take him seriously. Apart from the North Koreans, no
one does. Of course, Gandhi's name is taken in vain by
hypocritical politicians and his smile decorates the
currency notes whose main use is as black money which
feeds Indian politics.
Yet, now that Communism is about to lose its base in West
Bengal, there may be not any who care about Lenin in India
either. But I have just read what is probably the best
biography of Lenin and indeed one of the best biographies
of anyone that I have read. This is Helen Rappaport's
Conspirator: Lenin in Exile. The many other Lenin
biographies are either hagiopgraphies or cold war
anti-communist rants. Helen Rappaport treats Lenin like a
human being, a very intense, obsessive revolutionary who
is willing to sacrifice everything-himself, his wife
Nadezhda (Nadya) Krupskaya, his lover Inessa Armand and
his family in the service of his single-minded idea that
his visions will triumph as an answer to ?Russia's
problems.
Lenin was born just a year after Gandhiji but died in
1924, almost at the same age as his father did and of the
same problem-a stroke. Lenin spent seventeen years in
exile, wandering from one to another of Europe's many
cities-Geneva, Zurich, Paris, London, Cracow and often
even smaller towns and villages in Galicia and
Switzerland. It was a life of penury and of constant fear
of the long arm of the Okhrana-the Czarist secret service.
He, Krupskaya and her mother Elisaveta lived together
often in one or two rooms with little furniture, no
heating and short of money. What little money they had
came from Party funds (swollen when Stalin managed to rob
a bank) or from relations back in Russia. Krupskaya worked
away at correspondence with party members back in Russia
which had to be in code to escape the censor. All her life
this was her main task.
Surviving often on just bread and some meat, Lenin just
wrote and wrote. He went to the library in every town
where he lived and went on organising how his faction
would defeat the Mensheviks who were larger more
respectable and richer. At times it is astonishing that a
person can go on fighting with so little hope. We can see
in retrospect that 1917 is only three years away after the
War breaks out but Lenin was not to know till almost the
last moment that his day had arrived.
Rappaport has done extensive research not just on Lenin
but on the many people who met him or were just there at
the time. James Joyce and Tristan Tzara, the Dadaist
pioneer in Zurich, for instance. Maxim Gorky was always
helpful and rich enough to afford a villa in Capri where
Lenin could rest. The book is a rich source on the life of
among revolutionaries as they fought tyranny in their home
countries by sheltering in freer atmosphere of London,
Paris or Geneva. When the Russians met in London for their
Party conference, they were surprised that the bobby did
not ask to see their papers as the Russian police always
did. Nor did the English care what the Russians talked
about except to know that they were holding a 'Congress
?of Undesirables'.
There is a real international socialist movement in those
pre war years and each helps out other. Despite Lenin's
constant quarrels with all other socialism, they helped
him with funds and support, even getting him out of jail
when he was put in jail as a suspected Czarist spy. After
1917, Lenin did not repay those socialists with any
kindness. That was his way. And now his way is gone.
Eminent economist Lord Meghnad Desai is a professor
emeritus of the London School of Economics.
International
India's foreign
secretary to visit Pakistan
Dawn Online
India's top foreign ministry official will meet her
Pakistani counterpart in Islamabad next Thursday as the
two nations look to build on a recent thaw in relations.
"Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao will visit Pakistan at the
invitation of the Foreign Secretary of Pakistan, Mr Salman
Bashir," said a statement from the Indian foreign affairs
ministry on Friday.Rao will also meet Pakistani Foreign
Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi.Qureshi has invited his
Indian counterpart S.M. Krishna to Islamabad on July 15 as
part of a process of reconciliation between the South
Asian neighbours.
Qureshi met with Indian Minister of Trade and Industry,
Anand Sharma last week in Istanbul. Both leaders spoke
about potential trade volume between Pakistan and India.
Sharma also showed his willingness to meet his Pakistani
counter part.
Qureshi also welcomed Home Minister P. Chidambaram's
proposed visit to Pakistan. He said that there is a need
to join efforts to end terrorism.
India weighs new response to Bhopal
gas disaster
AFP, New Delhi
Indian ministers tasked with probing the 1984 Bhopal gas
tragedy amid renewed outrage over the disaster met Friday
to consider a fresh official response to the tragedy.
A nine-member panel headed by Home Minister P. Chidambaram
began looking look into compensation, criticised as
inadequate by campaigners, and continued pollution caused
by delays in cleaning up the factory at the centre of the
disaster.
It is set to finalise its recommendations for further
action on Monday and then present them to Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh.
"We have identified the areas which require in-depth
consideration," Home Minister P. Chidambaram told
reporters after the meeting, identifying the issues as
"rehabilitation, relief and remediation."
The world's worst industrial accident is back in the
headlines after a court last week -- 25 years after the
disaster-convicted seven former managers at the plant,
handing them two-year jail sentences and minor fines.
The verdict has fuelled a sense of betrayal among victims'
families and campaigners, who have vociferously condemned
the slow pace of justice, what they see as lenient
sentences and continued pollution from the plant.
Chidambaram said the panel would also re-examine the
court's verdict and its fallout.
"Tomorrow we will look at the legal issues, health issues
and all other issues that has arisen out of the judgement
of the trial court," he said.
The disaster was unleashed on December 3, 1984, when a
pesticide plant owned by US company Union Carbide
accidentally released about 40 tonnes of toxic gas into
surrounding residential areas.
According to the government, 3,500 lives were lost in the
immediate aftermath but activists and rights group
calculate that 25,000 people died in the years that
followed.
Other members of the panel include Health Minister Gulab
Nabi Azad, Law Minister Veerappa Moiley and Environment
Minister Jaipal Ramesh.
India's ruling Congress party which governed Madhya
Pradesh of which Bhopal is the capital in 1984 is also in
the bind over questions over Union Carbide's fugitive CEO
who was allowed to flee the country in the disaster's
aftermath.
Thai government hints at
extending emergency rule
AFP, Bangkok
The Thai government indicated Friday that it is likely to
extend a state of emergency in Bangkok imposed more than
two months ago in response to mass anti-government
protests.
Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban, who is in charge
of national security, rejected a demand from the
opposition to lift the law for a by-election in the
capital scheduled for July 25.
"It's impossible. In the past few weeks the Bangkok local
election was held and went smoothly despite the existence
of emergency law and it involved a bigger area than this
by-election," he told reporters.
Abhisit invoked emergency rule in the protest-hit capital
on April 7, banning public gatherings of more than five
people and giving broad powers to the police and military.
The emergency decree, in place across about one third of
the country, is due to expire on July 7 and the cabinet
will decide whether to extend it next month based on the
advice of security officials.
The two-month-long Red Shirt protests-aimed at forcing
immediate elections-sparked outbreaks of violence that
left a total of 90 people dead, mostly civilians, and
nearly 1,900 injured.
Enraged protesters went on a rampage of arson after a
deadly May 19 crackdown ended their rally. The unrest also
spread outside the capital, particularly in the Reds'
stronghold in the impoverished northeast.
Human rights campaigners have voiced concerns that the
government's use of the sweeping emergency powers lacks
transparency and violates freedom of expression-a charge
the government denies.
"The state of emergency was imposed to ensure that the
unrest does not happen again," Prime Minister Abhisit
Vejjajiva said Friday at a gathering organised by the Thai
Board of Investment.
"The state of emergency is not affecting foreign investors
or violating human rights," he said.
Sri Lanka marks victory as
war crime pressure mounts
AFP, Colombo
Sri Lanka's president denied Friday that his troops fired
at a "single civilian" during the bloody climax a year ago
to the country's long civil war, dismissing mounting calls
for a war crimes probe.
"Our troops carried a gun in one hand and a copy of the
human rights' charter in the other," President Mahinda
Rajapakse said at an anniversary victory parade attended
by thousands of troops. "Our guns were not fired at a
single civilian," the president, dressed in white, said as
he took the salute from an open-air stage in central
Colombo.
The military parade was attended by diplomats and
high-ranking government officials, and drew units that led
the final assault against the Tamil Tiger rebels, whose
leadership was wiped out on May 18 last year. It was
originally due to be held last month, but heavy rains
forced its postponement to Friday, which was declared a
public holiday.
Rajapakse's remarks came as two senior advisers to US
President Barack Obama wrapped up meetings with Sri Lankan
officials, during which they strongly encouraged Colombo
to investigate war crimes allegations, a US government
source said.
Rights groups and Western governments continue to pressure
Colombo to probe claims that troops killed civilians
indiscriminately and executed those surrendering at the
end of the 37-year civil war.
"The US has strong, credible allegations of evidence of
atrocities during the prosecution of the war against the
Tamil Tigers," said the American source, who declined to
be named.
"President Obama sent the envoys to ensure that these
charges are probed."
The source said Washington was assured by Colombo that a
local investigation will punish anyone guilty of
criminality while battling the Tigers. "We want to believe
this will bring results, but we will wait and see," he
said.
The United Nations also announced Thursday it would form a
war crimes panel to advise Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
"on international standards and comparative experiences
with accountability."
The mandate and members of the panel will be announced
next week despite objections from the Rajapakse
government, Lynn Pascoe, the UN under-secretary-general
for political affairs, told reporters in Colombo. During
his nationally televised address, Rajapakse criticised
those pressing for a war crimes probe and said individuals
raising human rights issues were responsible for a "great
betrayal" of the nation. His remarks were a clear
reference to his former army chief Sarath Fonseka, now
regarded as an enemy of the regime after unsuccessfully
challenging Rajapakse in elections and fuelling the row
about war crimes.
S.Korea must respond
sternly to N.Korea attacks: Army chief
AFP, Seoul
South Korea's military faces a "desperately dangerous
situation" after the sinking of a warship and must respond
sternly to any future North Korean provocations, the new
army chief said Friday.
"With a resolute determination, the military must put
together all of its capabilities and resources to sternly
deal with any provocations by North Korea," General Hwang
Eui-Don said in his inauguration speech.
Hwang took over in a reshuffle of military top brass amid
criticism that the armed forces reacted sloppily to the
sinking of the corvette near the disputed sea border on
March 26. A total of 46 sailors were killed.
State inspectors recommended that 13 generals, 10
lower-level officers and two civilian defence ministry
officials be punished. The country's top military officer
Lee Sang-Eui offered his resignation.
South Korea announced non-military reprisals against its
impoverished communist neighbour after a multinational
investigation concluded last month that a submarine from
the North had torpedoed the Cheonoan. The sinking has
dramatically escalated tensions on the peninsula ahead of
the 60th anniversary of the start of the Korean war on
June 25, 1950 and has stalled efforts at resuming North
Korea nuclear disarmament negotiations.
The North, which angrily denies any involvement, has
threatened military action if the UN Security Council
accepts Seoul's request to censure Pyongyang.
Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on
Friday again accused Seoul of fabricating the evidence in
the sinking.
"This has pushed the inter-Korean relations to a total
collapse and created such (a) tense situation on the
Korean peninsula that a war may break out right now," KCNA
said.
Hwang said he would work to build a strong army that is
"trusted and loved by the people," according to a
transcript of his inauguration speech released by the
defence ministry.
The new army chief told reporters Thursday that chances of
another military provocation are quite high.
"North Korea is not showing any direct moves for
provocations, but when we look at its past pattern of
behaviour, there are fair chances of provocations and
that's why we raised" alertness, he said.
Taiwan court extends former
president's detention
AFP, Taipei
Taiwan's High Court ruled on Friday that former president
Chen Shui-bian should be held in custody for another two
months while he appeals a 20-year jail term for graft.
"Chen is more familiar with possible routes to escape as a
former president... he is still a flight risk," it said in
a statement. In a surprise move, the court last week cut
Chen's life sentence to 20 years in jail after concluding
that he had embezzled less money than previously assumed.
Chen, who has been locked up for more than 500 days, has
repeatedly vowed that he would not flee the island if set
free while his appeal case is pending. The ex-leader was
convicted last year at the Taipei district court of
embezzling state funds, laundering money, accepting bribes
and committing forgery.
The opposition Democratic Progressive Party, which Chen
once led, has urged the government to free him
immediately. Chen has blasted his trial as a vendetta
carried out by the Beijing-friendly Kuomintang
administration in retaliation for his pro-independence
stance during his 2000-2008 term.
India hands Mumbai attack
evidence to Pakistan
AFP, New Delhi
India on Friday handed over to Pakistan a new dossier of
evidence related to the November 2008 Mumbai attacks,
ahead of talks next week between top foreign ministry
officials.
India's foreign ministry separately announced a meeting
next Thursday between Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao and
her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir as the two nations
look to build on a recent thaw in relations.
Tension between the countries stems most recently from the
Mumbai attacks, which India blames on Pakistan-based
militants who it believes Islamabad has done too little to
bring to justice.
Another dossier of evidence related to the attacks known
as "26/11" in India, which saw 166 people killed, was
handed over on Friday, a Pakistan embassy source in New
Delhi told AFP, asking not to be named. "They have given
us some more documentation this afternoon and we have sent
it to Pakistan," the source said. "This is additional
information about 26/11 and it is huge in volume." India
has already handed over several dossiers of evidence
linking the attacks to Pakistani militants, but Islamabad
says more is needed to convict the alleged masterminds.
During her trip to Pakistan next week, Rao will also meet
Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi.
Qureshi has invited his Indian counterpart S.M. Krishna to
Islamabad on July 15 as part of a process of
reconciliation between the South Asian neighbours, who
have fought three wars in the last 60 years.
Kyrgyz
leader says 2,000 may be dead in ravaged south
AFP, Osh,
Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan's acting leader admitted the death toll from
ethnic clashes is probably 2,000 -- ten times the current
estimate-as she went to the ravaged south where the UN
said up to a million people may have been affected.
A senior US envoy meanwhile urged an independent
investigation into the clashes between ethnic Kyrgyz and
Uzbeks, which sent tens of thousands fleeing into
neighbouring Uzbekistan.
Interim leader Roza Otunbayeva, wearing a bullet-proof
vest and accompanied by a heavy security detail, landed by
helicopter for her first visit to the devastated city of
Osh since unrest erupted one week ago.
"I came here to see, to speak with the people and hear
firsthand what happened here. We will do everything to
rebuild this city," Otunbayeva said before a handful of
people on the main square.
In an interview ahead of her trip, Otunbayeva admitted
that the official death toll, which the health ministry
said Friday had reached 192, was vastly underestimated.
"I would multiply by 10 times the official figures," she
said in an interview with the Russian daily Kommersant
published Friday.
"There were very many deaths in the countryside, and our
customs dictate that we bury our dead right away, before
sunset," meaning that many bodies were buried before
deaths could be registered with authorities, she said.
The UN's World Health Organisation said it was working on
a worst-case estimate that the crisis could affect up to
one million people.
"We are working with a planning figure of one million
people that have been directly or indirectly affected by
this event -- 300,000 of them... refugees," said Giuseppe
Annunziata, WHO coordinator for emergency programme
support.
On a visit to Uzbekistan's border region of Andijan, US
Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian
Affairs Robert Blake said an independent probe should be
conducted into the violence.
"I think it's important that there be an investigation...
but given the large number of ethnic Uzbek refugees here
in Uzbekistan whose stories need to be heard, the Kyrgyz
investigation needs to be accompanied by an investigation
by an independent body," he told AFP.
In Osh, Otunbayeva defended her government from criticism
that it had been unable to contain the ethnic bloodshed
and to cope with the escalating humanitarian crisis.
Thousands rally in Kosovo in support
of Muslim headscarf
AFP, Pristina
Thousands Kosovo Albanians staged a protest rally Friday
in Pristina after girls were banned from school for
refusing to take off their Muslim headscarves.
The protesters, who carried signs saying "Stop
Discrimination" and chanted "Allahu Akbar" (God is great),
demanded that the Kosovo government allow the wearing of
religious symbols in schools.
They also urged the authorities to reverse the recent
suspension of several girls from school because they were
wearing the headscarf. "Communists out", the protesters
chanted in the front of the government offices.
Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, adopting
a secular constitution which stipulates the separation of
religious and state authority.
With an overwhelming Muslim majority but a tradition of
moderate Islam at ease with Western values, the government
prohibits girls from attending public schools wearing the
headscarf.
Recently there have been two cases where young women have
been barred from school for refusing to remove their
headscarves.
Serbia does not recognise independent Kosovo and is
challenging its legality before an UN court.
The US and 22 out of 27 members of the EU are among 69
countries that recognised Kosovo.
Abbas tells US envoy
blockade must be lifted
AFP, Ramallah,
Palestinian Territories
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas on Friday told US envoy
George Mitchell that Washington must press Israel to lift
its blockade of the Gaza Strip.
"President Abbas insisted during the meeting on the need
for a continuation of US efforts to achieve the complete
end of the Gaza blockade," his spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina
told AFP following talks in Ramallah, the political
capital of the occupied West Bank.
He stressed that lifting the blockade would favour a
restart of direct negotiations between Israel and the
Palestinians that were halted when Israel launched a
devastating 22-day offensive in Gaza in December 2008.
Mitchell has brokered indirect talks and has been acting
as a go-between since they started in May.
Abbas condemned the blockade as "collective punishment"
against Gaza's 1.5 million residents and dismissed as
"insufficient" an easing of the measures announced by
Israel earlier this week, Palestinian negotiator Saeb
Erakat said.
British, French leaders hail ties as
they mark WWII appeal
AFP, London
The leaders of France and Britain hailed their nations'
battle-forged ties Friday as they marked 70 years since
Charles de Gaulle's stirring radio appeal for the French
to resist Nazi occupation.
In a ceremony in London attended by World War II veterans,
French President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime
Minister David Cameron also paid tribute to their soldiers
who fought and died together in the battles of the last
century.
Accompanied by his former model wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy,
the president had earlier met with Prince Charles and
visited the BBC studio where the exiled de Gaulle issued
the rousing appeal to his compatriots back home on June
18, 1940.
"Whatever happens, the flame of the French resistance must
not and will not be extinguished," de Gaulle said, urging
those who had escaped to Britain to join him in London and
for those still in France to hold firm.
Although very few French actually heard it, the speech is
seen as a founding act of the resistance to the Nazis,
coming four days after the fall of Paris and as the French
government prepared to sign an armistice with Germany.
Sarkozy said the decision to let de Gaulle make the appeal
from London-initially opposed by the cabinet but
championed by wartime premier Winston Churchill-"made
possible the very existence of the French resistance."
"The appeal of June 18 could have been made nowhere else
than from among the sole free people on earth which
continued to resist the forces of Nazism with all its
might," he said in a speech at the Royal Hospital Chelsea,
an institute for veterans.
Sarkozy made three British and three French veterans
knights of the Legion of Honour, a top French award, and
he and Cameron were treated to a display of troops from
both nations in full ceremonial splendour. In his speech,
the British prime minister hailed the "great relationship"
with France and referred in French to "mon ami, M. Le
President, Nicolas Sarkozy".
De Gaulle's address was "a call for freedom, a call to
fight oppression, a call that inspired countless acts of
bravery", he said, and it highlighted the ties between
Britain and France "forged through fierce trials".
Sarkozy was the first French president to travel to London
to mark the address, the first of a number of messages de
Gaulle and his Free French followers would send via the
BBC.
Russia serious about change, Medvedev
tells West
AFP, Saint
Petersburg
President Dmitry Medvedev promised the West on Friday that
a "changing" Russia was serious about economic reform,
saying it needed a boom in foreign investment to modernise
its economy. "We are truly modernising Russia," Medvedev,
Russia's third post-Soviet president, told business
leaders in a keynote speech at the annual economic forum
in its second city of Saint Petersburg.
"The changes take time but it will happen," he declared in
the former imperial capital founded by Tsar Peter the
Great in 1703 to serve as Russia's window to the West and
to narrow its gap with the West. "Russia understands the
tasks ahead and is changing for itself and for the rest of
the world," said Medvedev. Medvedev-who took over the
Kremlin from his strongman predecessor Vladimir Putin in
2008 -- has made modernisation a mantra of his presidency
but has been criticised by economists for failing to
follow rhetoric with actions. In a surprise announcement
warmly welcomed by the audience, Medvedev said that from
2011 Russia would abolish capital gains tax for long-term
direct investment. "Russia must become a country which
attracts people from around the world to realise their
dreams," he said. He also promised more relaxed visa
policies for qualified foreign businessmen working in
Russia and a strengthening of the legal basis for business
in a country still blighted by corruption. "Russia needs a
genuine investment boom," said Medvedev.
Medvedev announced he had signed a decree that would cut
fivefold the number of firms deemed "strategic" and in
which the state is obliged to own a stake, opening the way
for broader participation of foreign companies in the
country's top companies.
Under Putin, Russia drew up a list of sectors, first and
foremost energy, in which foreign participation is
limited. German Gref, ex-economy minister and now head of
Russia's largest bank Sberbank, said this was a crucial
development as it showed the "state will gradually
withdraw from direct participation in the economy".
Turkey says 130 Kurdish rebels
killed, warns of more attacks
AFP, Ankara
The Turkish military said Friday that at least 130 Kurdish
rebels were killed in Turkey and neighbouring northern
Iraq since March, warning that violence by the militants
was set to rise further. The outlawed Kurdistan Workers'
Party (PKK), which has been leading a 25-year insurgency
against Turkey, has recently stepped up its attacks,
prompting the army to carry out at least two air raids and
a small-scale ground incursion on rebel bases in northern
Iraq.
The majority of the PKK losses came from a May 20 air
strike on rebel hideouts in the Hakurk region of northern
Iraq following intelligence that a large group of
militants were moving towards Turkey, General Fahri Kir,
the head of the internal security operations department,
said. "It has been understood from information obtained
that (the rebels) suffered more than 100 losses," Kir told
a press conference here.
Thirty other PKK rebels were neutralized since the
beginning of March, excluding those captured alive, the
general said, adding: "Therefore, it is understood that
their losses are about 130 over the past four months."
Forty-three members of the security forces had been killed
in the same period, he added.
Kir said at least five militants were killed in a
cross-border ground operation Wednesday into northern
Iraq, backed by an air raid, in pursuit of rebels who had
attacked border guards in the province of Sirnak.
Intercepted wireless communication between the rebels
"shows that their losses are... about 20," the general
said. The soldiers taking part in the incursion returned
to their bases the same day, he added.
There have been almost daily clashes and daring rebel
attacks since June 1 when the PKK declared an end to a
unilateral ceasefire which had been in place since April
2009. Kir said the PKK was trying to increase its attacks
and spread them to areas outside the southeast, its usual
theatre of operations, in a bid to solidify control over
its forces and pressure the Ankara government to accept
them as an interlocutor.
Measles outbreak kills more
than 700 in Africa
AFP, Addis Ababa
A recent measles outbreak in eastern and southern Africa
has killed more than 700 people, threatening to reverse
gains made over several years to stem the disease, the
United Nations said Friday.
"As of mid-June 2010, the outbreak has affected more than
47,907 children in 14 countries, resulting in 731 deaths.
The most recent confirmed measles outbreaks were reported
from Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia," a statement said. The
worst-hit country is Zimbabwe with 517 reported deaths.
The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health
Organisation warned the outbreak "has put recent gains in
reducing mortality due to this highly contagious disease
at risk of being reversed."
The statement said that control strategies, including
routine immunisations, recommended by the two UN agencies
in recent years needed to be more rigorously implemented.
"The current wave of measles outbreaks comes as a result
of gaps in the implementation of the control strategies.
These gaps have been caused by inadequate financial
commitments from governments and partners," it said.
"Measles are easily preventable. In order to sustain our
efforts and successes in combating the disease, we
urgently need to fill the funding gaps. Otherwise, we will
again see more measles deaths in the near future," said
UNICEF Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa,
Elhadj As Sy. Measles can cause severe complications such
as pneumonia, diarrhoea and encephalitis.
Kyrgyzstan crisis could affect up to
one million people: WHO
AFP, Geneva
The World Health Organisation said Friday that it was
working on a worst-case estimate that the crisis in
Kyrgyzstan may affect up to one million people, about a
third of whom could be refugees. "We are working with a
planning figure of one million people that have been
directly or indirectly affected by this event -- 300,000
of them... refugees," said Giuseppe Annunziata, WHO
coordinator for emergency programme support.
The UN health agency official confirmed when asked that
the figures were a "worst-case scenario", and that the
remaining 700,000 are people who could be displaced within
Kyrgyzstan by the conflict.
At the moment, up to 100,000 people have already sought
refuge in neighbouring Uzbekistan, not counting children,
while about 300,000 are thought to be internally
displaced, according to the United Nations.
A spokeswoman for the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF),
Christiane Berthiaume, said the aid planning figure of one
million would include assistance for families in both
countries who have given shelter to those who have fled.
Annunziata also pointed to unconfirmed reports from
different sources that some ethnic Uzbek women had been
"subject to gender-based violence."
"Unfortunately there are atrocities that have been
reported targetting the Uzbek minorities in Kyrgyzstan,"
said Annunziata, adding that there were cases of rapes
reported by women who have sought refuge in Uzbekistan.
UN must act urgently on
Kyrgyzstan crisis: NGOs
AFP, Brussels
The UN Security Council should quickly authorise the
deployment of a stabilisation mission in Kyrgyzstan to end
ethnic unrest threatening international peace and
security, leading NGOs said Friday.
"We urge the United Nations Security Council to take
immediate steps to address the ongoing crisis in
Kyrgyzstan," the heads of the International Crisis Group
and Human Rights Watch wrote in a joint letter to the UN
body.
"This mission would have a policing mandate and could be
bolstered by military forces, particularly constabulary
forces or gendarmes, if necessary." wrote Louise Arbour,
chief executive of the International Crisis Group, and
Kenneth Roth, head of Human Rights Watch.
"With a death toll likely to reach far higher than the
official count of 200 and an estimated 400,000 displaced
in Kyrgyzstan and across the border in Uzbekistan, the
situation poses a significant threat to international
peace and security," they stressed.
Kyrgyzstan's interim leader, Roza Otunbayeva, said Friday
that the death toll from the ethnic clashes is probably
2,000, 10 times the government estimate.
Business/Economy
G20 must
guard, strengthen economic recovery: Obama
AFP, Washington
Top world economies must step up crucial financial reforms
in order to "maintain the momentum" of global economic
recovery, US President Barack Obama told G20 leaders in a
letter released Friday.
"We worked exceptionally hard to restore growth; we cannot
falter or lose strength now," he said in a message to the
leaders ahead of a June 26-27 summit in Toronto amid
concerns over the pace of global economic recovery.
Obama said the meeting would take place "at a time of
renewed challenge to the global economy," and laid out an
action plan of issues he hopes the summit will tackle,
including financial reforms. "To support the recovery and
strengthen the ability of our financial systems to deliver
needed credit, we must maintain the momentum of financial
repair."
He offered a checklist of items that should be embraced,
including stricter capital requirements and derivatives
oversight, increased transparency and disclosure "to
promote market integrity and reduce market manipulation,"
and a mechanism for winding down global financial firms.
"We want our negotiators to reach agreement on a new
capital framework we can endorse in Seoul that will
include higher common equity requirements, tighter
definitions of capital, a simple mandatory leverage ratio,
and appropriate liquidity requirements," Obama said.
Following Toronto, a G20 Summit will be held November
11-12 in the South Korean capital.
In improving oversight of derivatives-the complex
financial instruments implicated in sparking the 2008
financial crisis-Obama urged "supervision and regulation,
including conservative capital and margin requirements,
disclosure and reporting requirements, and strong business
conduct standards to mitigate the potential for systemic
risk and market abuse." He called for a commitment to
"sustainable" public finances, and warned that he was
"concerned by weak private sector demand and continued
heavy reliance on exports" by some nations within the
Group of 20 emerging and developed nations. "Our highest
priority in Toronto must be to safeguard and strengthen
the recovery," Obama stressed.
As part of a global rebalancing program, China has been
particularly urged to wean away from dependence on exports
to boost domestic consumption while developed nations such
as the United States have been told to keep their soaring
deficits under control. The G20 sought and won the role as
an international forum for coordinating the response to
the global economic meltdown, and Obama reminded the
organization of its responsibilities. "Together we
designated the G20 as the premier forum for international
economic cooperation," he wrote in the letter dated June
16, but released by the White House early Friday. "It is
important that the G20 demonstrates its continued
determination to work collectively to address the renewed
challenges facing the global economy."
The Toronto meeting follows months of crisis in the
eurozone fueled by Greece's huge public debt woes and
deficit, and concerns over the economic solvency of
countries like Portugal and Spain, which have threatened
growth across Europe. Obama said that "resolving ongoing
uncertainty about the transparency of bank balance sheets
and the adequacy of bank capital, particularly in Europe,
will help reduce financial market volatility and the cost
of borrowing."
IMF
chief ‘confident’ about Spanish economy
AFP, Madrid
The head of the International Monetary Fund weighed in
with support for Spain on Friday, saying he was optimistic
about the economy in the medium to long term now that
austerity and reforms are under way.
IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn, speaking after days of
high market tension over Spanish debt and the banking
system here, declared: "I am really confident in the
medium and long-term prospects for the Spanish economy,
providing the efforts that have to be made will be made."
He continued: "And what I see today is that these efforts
are underway."
Strauss-Kahn, speaking at a joint news conference with
Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, said:
"So I wanted to discuss with (Zapatero) the focus he has,
the way he wants to implement it." The IMF head said their
talks had also ranged over "the political difficulties,
because nobody can believe it is going to be easy, but
also the commitment by the government to go forward. "And
I think all this is clearly done for the good of the
Spanish economy." The two held talks against a background
of tumultuous events for the Spanish economy in the last
few days, marked by rumours of a bailout by the IMF and
the EU, and a union call for a general strike over crucial
labour reforms, but also by renewed market confidence over
Spain's debt.
A plan announced on Wednesday to convince sceptical
markets that Spanish banks are sound, also later backed by
EU leaders, and a successful auction of long-term
government bonds on Thursday eased investor fears that the
country was heading for a Greek-style financial crisis.
Zapatero said that he had explained to the IMF chief the
various measures that the government is taking. "I
conveyed to (Strauss-Kahn) the determination of the
Spanish government to implement and to make effective
every single one of these reforms that we have launched,
to demonstrate that Spain can overcome the crisis and
emerge with a stronger economy," he said.
After Spain's public deficit ballooned to 11.2 percent of
gross domestic product last year, the Socialist government
launched an austerity drive to slash the shortfall between
revenues and spending to the eurozone limit of three
percent in 2013.
The government on Wednesday also passed crucial reforms of
the rigid job market, deemed essential for reviving the
economy. But rumours of a bailout for Spain, along with
possible strains within the Spanish banking system, caused
a degree of alarm on financial markets during the week.
Zapatero said he was "not too bothered about rumours. I'm
worried that people actually believe these rumours... At
the end of the day, the fundamentals are more important
than rumours."
Japan growth plan bets on green-tech, health,
tourism
AFP, Tokyo
Japan, battling to revive its economy, on Friday pledged
to create five million jobs through a 10-year growth
strategy centred on green technology, health care, tourism
and closer links with Asia. The centre-left government of
Prime Minister Naoto Kan, who took office last week, has
pledged to end two decades of stagnation in Asia's biggest
economy and achieve stable real economic growth above 2.0
percent a year.
In the short term, the government aims to beat deflation
by late fiscal 2011 and boost weak demand while bringing
unemployment down from about five percent now to below
four percent soon and then down to three percent.
Japan is also eyeing lowering the corporate tax rate, from
an effective 40 percent now to the average level of major
industrialised nations, which is around 25 percent,
possibly from fiscal 2011, the strategy paper says.
Kan, a former left-wing activist who most recently served
as finance minister, has promised a "third way" approach
for the economy, which is expected to slip behind China
soon to global number three spot.
The premier has identified the "first way" as the heavy
infrastructure spending of the 1980s and 90s, much of it
pork-barrel projects that drove up public debt and left
many "white elephant" projects of dubious economic value.
Kan has also rejected as the "second way" the "excessive
market fundamentalism" of former premier Junichiro Koizumi
which aimed to slim down government but also weakened
social safety and widened income disparities.
In a speech last week, Kan outlined his "third way"
policies-an ambitious approach that would strengthen
domestic demand and jobs while also boosting the social
security system and reducing the public fiscal deficit.
Kan has pledged to reduce the world's biggest public debt
mountain, which is nearing 200 percent of GDP, and has
warned of the risk of a Greece-style meltdown for Japan if
the problem is left unaddressed. He has said the DPJ would
call for a full debate on tax reform and did not rule out
the possibility of doubling the five percent sales tax.
His party, in an election manifesto released Thursday,
pledged to slice the country's public deficit in half or
less by the year to March 2016, with a longer term
ambition of eliminating it by fiscal 2020.
Japan-with an ageing and shrinking population-already
collects less than half the taxes it needs to cover its
spending. In order to revitalise the economy, the
government wants to focus on core areas, including "green
innovation", which it estimates will create 1.5 million
jobs, and health care, which would generate 2.8 million
jobs.
World Bank urges China to hike interest rates
AFP, Beijing
The World Bank on Friday urged China to raise interest
rates to curb soaring property prices and rampant
borrowing by local governments, which the bank warned were
potential risks to the economy.
The bank also downplayed concerns over a "wage-inflation
spiral" in China after Beijing launched a round of minimum
wage hikes and several foreign-backed factories raised
salaries in response to labour unrest.
"The gains from letting interest rates play a larger role
in monetary policy are likely higher than the costs," the
World Bank said in its latest quarterly update on the
world's third-largest economy.
Interest rates in China were significantly lower than
expected rates of return on "property and physical
investment", fuelling over-investment and real estate
speculation, it said.
Official concerns that higher interest rates would attract
massive capital inflows seemed "overdone", it added.
Beijing has delayed raising interest rates partly due to
concerns it could attract speculative money chasing a
relatively higher yield, complicating its efforts to keep
the Chinese yuan stable.
Instead, authorities have preferred more targeted measures
to curb torrid bank lending, which reached 9.6 trillion
yuan (1.4 trillion dollars) in 2009, and runaway real
estate prices to thwart inflationary pressures and
economic overheating.
However, Wang Qing, a Morgan Stanley economist based in
Hong Kong, said an interest rate hike looked unlikely this
year as signs of economic overheating have ebbed.
"Currently economic activities are slowing down and the
inflation index has hit a peak level and is easing. So
there is no need for interest rate hikes," he told AFP.
The World Bank, which provides financial and technical aid
to developing nations, also reiterated its view that a
stronger currency would help contain inflationary
pressures and rebalance the economy.
China has effectively pegged the yuan at about 6.8 to the
dollar since mid-2008, which critics say gives its
exporters an unfair trade advantage.
While core inflation remained low, the bank said major
risks to the Chinese economy were rising asset prices,
financial strains on local governments that have borrowed
heavily to fund infrastructure and other projects, and bad
debts.
The recent wave of wage hikes around the country-by the
government and factories responding to labour
disputes-were "part of a cyclical issue" and were "within
historical norms", the bank said.
Karzai launches sales pitch for
Afghan minerals
AFP, Tokyo
Afghan President Hamid Karzai launched a sales pitch on
Friday for his war-torn country's rich mineral resources,
calling for major aid donor Japan to invest in mines.
Karzai also said he was planning to meet with
representatives of Japan's major trading house Mitsubishi
Corp. later in the day to discuss possible future
exploitation of the deposits.
Afghanistan's mining minister said Thursday that mineral
deposits in his country could be worth up to three
trillion dollars, tripling a US estimate which emerged
earlier this week.
The results of the US geological survey said Afghanistan
had huge reserves of lithium, iron, copper, gold, mercury,
cobalt and other minerals potentially worth nearly one
trillion dollars.
"So the prospects of Afghanistan is massively great and
good," Karzai said. "Whereas Saudi Arabia is the oil
capital of the world, Afghanistan will be the lithium
capital of the world.
"And Japan is welcome to participate in the lithium
exploration in Afghanistan," he said of the material used
in batteries for a range of electronic devices.
Asian markets edge up on Spanish
bond sale
AFP, Hong Kong
A successful bond sale by the Spanish government lifted
confidence in Asian trade on Friday, with most markets
posting gains, although sentiment was tempered by
disappointing US data.
The upbeat news out of Spain boosted the euro, while
dealers also welcomed the fact that European leaders had
agreed to go public with the results of stress tests on
their banks.
Sydney rose 0.54 percent, or 24.6 points, to 4,551.9 and
Hong Kong was 0.74 percent, of 148.31 points, higher at
20,286.71, marking an eighth straight session of gains.
Tokyo's Nikkei ended flat, edging down 4.38 points to
9,995.02. The Spanish Treasury raised 3.479 billion euros
in a bond sale Thursday, albeit at higher rates as
investors sought more reward for lending after recent debt
scares.
The auction followed rumours of possible strains within
the Spanish banking system and suggestions that Madrid was
seeking a bailout worth hundreds of billions of euros.
Spain and the European Union have denied this. European
leaders meanwhile agreed at a Brussels summit on Thursday
to publish the results of the so-called stress tests for
banks in the second half of July in a bid to reassure
investors.
IEA chief sees possible slide in global oil output
AFP, Tokyo
Global oil output could slide by up to 900,000 barrels a
day from projected levels for 2015 if oil producing
countries follow the US lead and impose moratoriums on
development of new offshore oil reserves, International
Energy Agency executive director Nobuo Tanaka said Friday.
The Paris-based organisation is conducting research on the
possible impact of the US moratorium and its implications
worldwide, Tanaka said, Dow Jones Newswires reported.
"If other countries like Angola, Brazil and the North Sea
(countries) put on hold new offshore development and there
is also one or two years of delay, the impact on global
oil output might be 800,000 barrels a day to 900,000
barrels a day by 2015," Tanaka told Dow Jones. He was
speaking in the western Japanese city of Fukui, where he
will take part in a meeting of Asia Pacific Economic
Cooperation group energy ministers this weekend. Although
the decline would represent about one percent of global
oil output, "given that spare oil production capacity is
about six million barrels a day, (a drop of) roughly one
million barrels a day can't be ignored," he said. Oil and
gas companies began shutting down 33 deepwater exploration
rigs last month after US President Barack Obama imposed a
six-month moratorium on developing new deepwater wells in
the Gulf of Mexico.
"There is little near-term impact. But for the medium
term, if new offshore oil development in the US is delayed
by one or two years, the impact (on production) would be
100,000 barrels a day to 300,000 barrels a day by 2015,"
Tanaka said.
"The ultimate impact is unclear. But it would take time to
investigate the causes of the spill and develop
appropriate safety requirements and procedures," he said.
At the three-day APEC meeting, ministers and government
officials will discuss energy security, sustainable
development of energy resources and the adoption of
renewable sources, Dow Jones said.
Bill to aid small business passes
US House
AFP, Washington
The House of Representatives passed a bill Thursday to
make credit available to small business, a measure pushed
by President Barack Obama to stimulate hiring at a time of
high unemployment. The measure passed by a vote of 241 to
182. The Senate has yet to vote on the bill.
The bill would funnel credit to small and medium size
businesses through local banks. A 30 billion dollar fund
managed by the Treasury Department would be used to make
funds available to banks for such loans.
The House coupled the provision with a previously passed
measure that provides 3.5 billion dollars in tax breaks.
Obama hailed the House vote in a statement that urged the
Senate to follow suit. "Our nation's small businesses are
the backbone of the American economy and the main drivers
of private job creation," he said, calling the measure "a
new and significant step toward getting small businesses
the financing they need to start up, expand, and hire more
workers." House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also expressed
satisfaction with the vote during her weekly news
conference, saying small businesses "needed credits for a
long time which the banks are not providing."
Republicans oppose the lending fund as another bailout of
financial institutions at the taxpayers' expense.
Europe to unveil banking sector
check-up
AFP, Frankfurt
Europe is finally set for a transparent check-up of its
banking sector to curb financial market tensions,
including information on weak regional lenders in Germany
and Spain.
Central bankers in Frankfurt and Madrid have confirmed
that the results of so-called stress tests will be
published following initial resistance from critics wary
of a possible negative market reaction.
In Brussels, EU leaders agreed to release the results of
similar tests for other eurozone banks aimed at
determining whether the lenders could withstand
exceptional economic or financial shocks, diplomats told
AFP on Thursday.
Spain and Germany had already decided to go public with
analyses of their banks, including smaller institutions
that are deemed most at risk.
Investors fear such banks might be unable to cope if they
were to suffer massive losses on government bonds and
real-estate loans.
Results on more than 20 major cross-border eurozone banks
are being coordinated in London by the Committee of
European Banking Supervisors but a CEBS spokesman declined
to say exactly how or when they would be released.
In Frankfurt, German central bank governor Axel Weber
warned that if the tests showed banks needed extra
funding, governments must be prepared to give it rapidly,
since otherwise the exercise could backfire.
"Any stress test only makes sense if it is accompanied by
a corresponding commitment by the respective government to
drive forward the process of recapitalisation and the
guarantee of liquidity," Weber told a conference.
Germany is testing a broad cross-section of its banking
sector and initial results would be available by mid-July,
he said, adding that it "wouldn't be sensible" to exclude
Germany's fragile state-owned Landesbank sector.
Biden says stimulus working, US
economy on track
AFP, Washington
Vice President Joe Biden said Thursday that the US
economic recovery is on track and that the huge stimulus
measure enacted last year "is working" despite criticism
of the plan. "The fact is the Recovery Act is working,"
Biden told a news conference as the administration kicked
off a six-week series of events called "Recovery Summer,"
to highlight the numerous infrastructure programs funded
by the 787-billion-dollar plan. "We've gone from
hemorrhaging over 700,000 jobs a month the first several
months we got here and turned on the lights in the West
Wing here, to adding more-several hundred thousand jobs a
month the last several months." Biden said that the US
economy as measured by gross domestic product "was
shrinking at 6.4 percent the first quarter we came into
office" but that it "grew three percent last quarter, and
averaged four percent over the last three quarters."
Biden said the bill enacted in February 2009, of which 620
billion dollars has been allocated, is still stimulating
growth and jobs.
"As a result, the Recovery Act is responsible for
somewhere between 2.3 million and 2.8 million jobs that
were either saved or created," he said. "So, folks, the
act is working." But he said that the upcoming summer
season "is actually poised to be the most active Recovery
Act season yet, with tens of thousands of projects
underway across the country that will help to create jobs
for American workers and economic growth for businesses,
large and small."
Biden and President Barack Obama are to participate in
more than 20 groundbrea-kings and ceremonies for projects
funded by the plan in the coming days.
"I think most of the skeptics have come around to the
point that all the talk about ... how (the plan) was going
to be this great boondoggle and all the fraud and abuse
that was going to occur and it wasn't going to have much
impact," Biden said.
IMF head laments ‘loss of
momentum’ in financial reform
AFP, Rome
World leaders' commitment to global reforms of the
financial sector is flagging, IMF head Dominique
Strauss-Kahn said on Thursday.
"I am sometimes a bit worried about the loss of momentum"
in the reform of the financial sector, in face of the
"huge" task ahead, Strauss-Kahn told a conference.
Previously, "leaders were very committed to do something
in the financial sector but as the crisis vanished, most
of them are more concerned by domestic questions," the
head of the International Monetary Fund said.
"It would be unfair to say that the momentum has
disappeared ... nevertheless I don't see the pressure as
big and strong as it was a few months ago," Strauss-Kahn
added.
Governments in the United States and Europe have been
scrambling to revamp and adapt banking rules since the
collapse of US investment bank Lehman Brothers in
September 2008 sparked a global credit crunch.
The IMF however has said that more direct measures than
those proposed so far are needed, such as levies tied to
risk presented by individual banks or limits to the size
of their business.
Strauss-Kahn also said he was concerned about the
consistency in priorities in financial reform across
borders, citing different approaches in the United States
and Italy as examples.
EU greenlights Estonia eurozone
entry in 2011
AFP, Brussels
Leaders of the 27 European Union nations on Thursday gave
their green light for Estonia to adopt the troubled euro
currency as of January 1, 2011.
"As a signal that the eurozone is open to all, we confirm
that Estonia will adopt the euro on January 1st next year.
We congratulate Estonia on the results of all its
efforts," EU president Herman Van Rompuy said after the EU
summit in Brussels agreed the move.
The European parliament gave its go-ahead on Wednesday,
meaning that Estonia is guaranteed to become the 17th
country to switch to the shared currency. In Tallinn,
Prime Minister Andrus Ansip hailed the news as
confirmation that "our responsible fiscal policy has been
the correct path for Estonia."
The European Commission has already determined that
Tallinn has met strict entry criteria.
These include keeping national debt and public deficits
under control as well as inflation, with limited
fluctuations on foreign exchange markets and on interest
rate levels. The single currency's future remains
uncertain in the eyes of some analysts despite a
trillion-dollar economic stabilisation programme for
eurozone countries and a massive rescue package for
debt-laden Greece agreed last month.
Worries over the eurozone's debt problems sent gold to a
record high this month while the euro slid as investors
looked for safer assets.
Against this troubled backdrop, Estonia's membership is
seen not only as a vote of confidence in the country but
also in the common currency.
Joseph Daul, head of the European parliament's
centre-right European People's Party, said the decision to
allow a Baltic nation into the euro club was an "act of
confidence."
KKR to buy Japanese employment recruitment firm
AFP, New York
US investment fund Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. said it
would buy Japanese cable broadcaster Usen's recruitment
services unit for 32.5 billion yen, or approximately 356
million dollars.
KKR and Usen said in a joint statement that they had
signed a deal for the acquisition of Intelligence Ltd.,
Usen's recruitment services subsidiary. Founded in 1989,
Intelligence offers permanent job placement, temporary
staffing and outsourcing, and job search advertising. The
company holds the second-largest market share in Japan in
job placement and search advertising.
"Intelligence is a dynamic company with a highly capable
and enthusiastic management team," said Shusaku Minoda,
managing director of KKR and chief executive of the firm's
Japan operations.
"As one of the few recruitment services firms in Japan
providing such a comprehensive offering, the company is
well-positioned to take advantage of an anticipated upturn
in economic activity."
KKR and Usen said
the transaction was expected to be completed by the end of
July.
National
Experts for sustainable facility
to dispose hazardous biological laboratory waste
BSS, Mymensingh
Experts and academics at a roundtable in Mymensingh have
emphasized on formulating appropriate policy guideline and
dependable facility for safe disposal of hazardous
biological laboratory waste for the safety of human health
and keep fresh the overall environment.
They also put importance on the need for immediate
development of a sustainable facility on Bangladesh
Agricultural University (BAU) campus for safe and timely
disposal of
biological laboratory waste.
Vice Chancellor of BAU Prof. Dr M A Satter Mondol was the
chief guest at the roundtable titled "Hazardous biological
laboratory waste disposal and to develop a future plan for
proper disposal " held in Mymensingh on Thursday with
Central Laboratory Director Prof. Dr. Md. Rafiqul Islam in
the chair.
Prof. Golam Shahi Alam of Surgery and Obstetric Department
, Prof. Nazrul Islam of Food Technology Department , Prof.
Emdadul Haque Chowdhury of Pathology Department, Prof.
Shamsuddin of Genetics and Plant Breeding Department,
Prof. Manzurul Alam of Pump Power and Machinery Department
and Associate Director of
Central Lab Prof. Dr. A N M Yahiya Khandaker among others
took part in the discussion held at Laboratory conference
room on the BAU campus.
Heads of relevant BAU departments, scientists and senior
teachers attended the discussion.
The roundtable was informed that research work being
conducted in different laboratories generates a large
quantity of hazardous biological waste and improper
disposal of them due to lack of facility on the campus to
this effect has been posing a major threat to public
health as well as overall environment.
The discussants viewed that waste like bacterial culture
on agar, agarose gel, contaminated sharps, radioactive
waste, contaminated hospital waste and animal carcasses
and tissues either to be incinerated or buried on a
regular basis at a facility to be set up and run under a
sustainable policy guideline. The experts and academics
made three recommendations to set up a facility on BAU
campus for safe and scientific disposal of biological
laboratory waste. The recommendations included setting up
a central facility, formulate a comprehensive policy
guideline and constitution of a body to regulate it.
Speaking at the function, VC Prof. Dr Satter Mondol
stressed the need for institutional arrangement for
protecting environment and ensuring bio-safety by
disposing health-risky biological laboratory waste side by
side putting importance on aspects like
ethics and welfare in research work.
He called upon all concerned to take into consideration
the bio-safety and waste disposal model developed by
ICDDRB before formulating policy for setting up laboratory
waste disposal facility on the campus.
Major rivers rising in
greater Rangpur
BSS, Rangpur
The major rivers marked sharp rises at many points during
the past 24 hours till Friday morning amid almost no
rainfalls in greater Rangpur and adjoining areas following
onrush of waters from the upstream.
The Teesta was flowing 25cm above its danger mark (DM) at
Dalia point in Nilphamari at 6am on Friday morning and
many people in the low- lying char areas of several
upazilas in Nilphamari and Lalmonirhat districts have been
marooned, official sources said.
Some low-lying and char areas in Nilphamari, Lalmonirhat,
Kurigram, Rangpur and Gaibandha districts were also
partially inundated though a flood-like situation has been
created only alongside the courses of the Teesta in some
areas since Thursday afternoon.
Official sources in the Water Development Board (WDB) said
the Teesta marked a sharp rise by 93 cm during the past 24
hours till 6 am Friday and was flowing 25 cm above its DM
at Dalia point under Domar upazila in Nilphamari at 6 am
on Friday morning.
About 3,000 low-lying people of Dimla, Domar and Jaldhaka
upazilas in Nilphamari, Hatibandha, Kaliganj and Aditmari
upazilas in Lalmonirhat and Gangachara, Pirgachha and
Kawnia upazilas in Rangpur on the Teesta have been
marooned partially so far.
The low-lying and char villages in Purbo Chhatnai, Paschim
Chhatnai, Khoga Khoribari, Tepa Khoribari and Khalisha
Chapani unions in Dimla upazila, Dawabari, Jhunagach,
Chapani, Golmunda, Shoulmari and Koimari unions in
Jaldhaka upazila of Nilphamari
area the worst affected.
Chairman of Purbo Chhatnai union Abdul Latif Khan,
chairman of Khalisha Chapani union Ataur Rahman and
villager Mizanur Rahman of Bhashani Char village in Dimla
upazila told that the situation turned worse since
Thursday afternoon on the Teesta.
The WDB officials said that the Teesta also marked a sharp
rise by 57cm at Kawnia point in Rangpur during the past 24
hours period and it was still flowing 127cm below its DM
there at 6am on Friday morning.
The Dharla marked a sharp rise by 31cm during the period
and was flowing 115cm below its DM at Kurigram point and
the Brahmaputra rose by 21cm and was flowing 290cm below
the DM at Noonkhawa in Kurigram at 6am on Friday morning.
Besides, the Karatoa marked sharp rises by 25cm at Bogra
and 95cm at Panchagarh during the period where the river
was still flowing 444cm and 190cm below its respective DM
at these points on Friday morning.
The Punorvoba marked a sharp rise by 39cm due to the same
reason of onrushing waters from the up streams during the
same period and was flowing 135cm below its DM at Dinajpur
point at 6am on Friday.
Victory day programme announced
BSS, Dhaka
An inter-ministerial meeting relating to announce the
'Victory Day' programme was held on Thursday at the
conference room of the Ministry of Liberation War Affairs
with State Minister Captain (Retd) AB Tajul Islam in the
chair.
The state minister urged all to celebrate the victory day
on December 16, an important day of our national life,
with befitting manner and enthusiasm, an official handout
said. The day's programme will begin with 31gun salute in
the early morning. The President and the Prime Minister
will place wreaths at the National Memorial at Savar on
the day.
Freedom fighters, led by State Minister for Liberation War
Affairs Captain (Retd) AB Tajul Islam, will also lay
wreaths at the national memorial. A combined parade of the
freedom fighters, Army, Navy, Air force, Bangladesh
Rifles, Police, RAB, BNCC, Ansars and VDP, Coastguards,
jail guards and Fire Service will be held at the national
parade square on the day. The president will take salute
and inspect the parade on the occasion.
National flag will be hoisted at all government, semi-
government, autonomous bodies and private buildings on the
day. All important buildings and establishments will also
be illuminated on the occasion.
A special prayer will be held at all mosques, temples,
churches, pagodas and other places of worships. The
meeting also decided to hold similar programmes at
district and upazila levels. Secretaries of the ministries
of Information, Housing and Public Works, Primary and Mass
Education, Liberation War Affairs and Local Government
Division, GOC of 9th Infantry Division, concerned high
officials of different ministries and division attended
the meeting, the handout added.
Five killed in Rangpur
BSS, Rangpur
Five persons, including a girl student among four young
girls, were killed in separate incidents at different
places in the district during the past 48 hours till
Thursday night, police and family sources said.
Student Sumi, 18, daughter of Abdus Salam of Biral upazila
in Dinajpur allegedly took poison as she failed to admit
at HSC first year session in Rangpur Cant Public School
and College. Later, she was rushed to Rangpur Medical
College Hospital (RMCH) where she died.
Nasima Begum, 18, daughter of Sadek Ali of village Abirer
Para under Mithapukur upazila in Rangpur allegedly
committed suicide by hanging herself at home following
family sequels. Rubita Begum, daughter of Moslem Uddin of
village Gopinathpur in Polashbari upazila of Gaibandha
died at the RMCH after she took poison at home following
quarrel with her brother.
Nargis Begum, 28, daughter of Farazul Islam of village
Janakpur under Mithapukur upazila in Rangpur allegedly
took poison at home. Later, she rushed to the RMCH where
she succumbed last night. Feroz Uddin, 45, son of late
Ghola Tuku, of Domar upazila in Nilphamari district was
seriously injured in a road accident and later died at
RMCH.
Separate unnatural death cases were filed with respective
police stations, the sources said.
ICT facilities to be expanded to 2000 more unions by this
year
BSS, Dhaka
In line with the present government's vision to build
'Digital Bangladesh' by 2021, ICT facilities will be
expanded to 2000 more unions in the country by this year
to reach such facilities to the doorsteps of the rural
people.
"Against the backdrop of tremendous success in 102 unions,
the information and communication technology (ICT)
facilities will be expanded to 2000 more unions by
December this year," Mohammad Nazrul Islam Khan, national
project director of Access to Information (A2I) Programme
under the Prime Minister's Office, told BSS on Friday.
Khan added that the government has also a plan to set up
union information centres (UICs) in all 4484 unions by
2011 with a view to bringing the country's total
population under ICT facilities.
With the expansion of the ICT facilities, he said, a huge
number of people will get offline and online facilities
such as different government forms and information about
agriculture, health, education, legal aid, human rights
and employment.
Besides, services like composing, printing, photo,
scanning, email, internet browsing and multimedia
projector will be provided to the rural people at a
nominal price, he said. After assumption of power by the
present government, he said, such 102 UICs were set up
under the joint initiative of the Access to Information
(A2I) Programme of the Prime Minister's Office and the
National Institute of Local Government (NILG).
The UNDP has been providing financial as well as technical
assistance to this end, he said, adding that the existing
102 UICs will get fibre optic connection by this year.
Expanded irrigation management boosts agriculture outputs
in NW-region
BSS, Rajshahi
The expanded irrigation management has boosted
agricultural outputs everywhere in the country's northwest
region especially in its vast barind tract for the last
couple of years. Likewise, the Barind Multipurpose
Development Authorities (BMDA) has been contributing a lot
to expand the irrigation management in the region.
Speakers revealed this while addressing a seminar titled
"Irrigation Management Approaches: BMDA Perspective"
organized by the Rajshahi center of Institution of
Engineers Bangladesh (IEB) at its seminar room in Rajshahi
on Thursday night.
In his address of welcome, IEB local unit Secretary Nur
Islam Tusser illustrated the aims and objectives of the
seminar with its Chairman Sarwar Hossain in the chair.
Vice-chancellor of Rajshahi University of Engineering and
Technology Prof Dr Sirajul Karim Chowdhury addressed the
seminar as the chief guest while Executive Director of
BMDA SM Abdul Mannan, IEB Secretary Mesbahur Rahman Tutul
and local unit Vice-
chairmen Lutfor Rahman and Rashidul Hassan as special
guests.
In his keynote speech, Additional Chief Engineer of BMDA
Abu Taleb Bhuiya gave an overview of the irrigation
management and its strategy for increasing food grain
production to improve the socio-economic condition of
people living in the region.
He mentioned that the Barind tract is the driest part of
the country and characterized by high and wavy
topographical features, low river network, high summer
temperature and other unfavorable climatic condition for
agriculture. Terming the groundwater as the main source of
irrigation, he said no crops would be produced without
irrigation in the dried area. Only in the Barind area,
around 2.3 lakh hectares remain beyond irrigation facility
and if the huge lands are brought under irrigation nearly
16 lakh metric tons of additional food grain would be
produced, he added. Taleb Bhuiya, however, revealed that
more than five lakh hectares of lands were brought under
irrigation through 12,508 power-driven deep tubewells (DTWs)
in all 16 districts in the region. The irrigated lands
produced around 20 lakh tonnes of crops, especially food-
grains, in the dried Barind areas during the current
fiscal.
The farmers attained significant progress in crop
production in its dry areas because of the deep tube-well
irrigation facilities along with supply of water from the
re-excavated
canals. Even 25 years ago, only a single crop could be
produced in these areas depending on rainwater. Now, at
least three crops are being harvested after the
development of necessary infrastructure in about 43 per
cent area of the region already enjoying irrigation
facilities.
‘Creating right conditions for world people is imperative
for global peace’
BSS, Dhaka
Bangladesh Ambassador to the United States Akramul Quader
has called for creating right condition for all people of
the world to ensure durable and lasting peace.
"We live in a global village and threats to our peace and
security are interconnected....to ensure durable and
lasting peace, it is imperative to create the right
conditions for our people," he said while addressing a
discussion in Washington on June 15.
Asia Foundation arranged the 24th Ellsworth Bunker Asian
Ambassadors Series Discussion at Bangladesh Embassy,
according to message received here on Friday.
Congressman Keith Ellison spoke on 'Imperatives of Global
Peace: Implications for Asia' as the designated guest
speaker.
Echoing the common perception that the 21st century
belongs to Asia, the ambassador reminded the audience
about the enormous possibilities and opportunities as well
as the serious socioeconomic and other challenges the
region facing.
He expressed his satisfaction that Asia has received an
increased and focused attention in the foreign policy of
US President Barack Obama which holds prospects for closer
cooperation between the US and the Asian countries.
While mentioning Bangladesh as a consistent and frontline
contributor to the UN peacekeeping missions and its other
signature issues having implications on global peace like
women empowerment and disaster management, Ambassador
Qader reiterated Bangladesh's role as a protagonist of
peace and harmony not only in South Asia but also in the
world.
He praised the Asia Foundation for its program being
implemented in Bangladesh along with other Asian
countries, and expressed the hope that the ongoing and
successor program would contribute in strengthening
traditions of tolerance, diversity, and social harmony in
the country.
The ambassador also thanked the Asia Foundation for
selecting the Bangladesh Embassy as the venue for the
event.
Keith Ellison in his speech stressed collective effort to
achieve global peace. He especially mentioned the need for
continued dialogue among nations and civilizations,
broader engagements, equity in trade and generosity in
providing aid.
Describing these as essential infrastructure for bringing
peace and stability in the fast-changing world, the
Congressman underlined the South-South cooperation as
vehicle for bridging the gap between the developed and the
developing world.
The event was attended, among others, by Ambassador John
Dihn Dinger, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the
US Department of State Nancy Yuan, the vice-president of
the Asia Foundation and ambassadors from a large number of
Asian countries.
The Asia Foundation initiated the Ellsworth Bunker Asian
Ambassador Series Program in 1998 to bring together
Washington- based Asian diplomats and American political,
business, media, and policy leaders.
Automated tax collection system inaugurated at Gouripur
municipality
BSS, Mymensingh
Digitized tax collection system was formally inaugurated
at Gouripur municipality on Friday as part of the
government's plan to build Digital Bangladesh.
State Minister for Health and Family Welfare Captain (retd)
Mujibur Rahman Fakir inaugurated the newly developed
system aiming at speeding up and making the tax collection
system transparent as well as lessening the sufferings of
the people.
Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) developed
the automated system under its project titled "Urban
Management and Infrastructure Development".
Gouripur Municipality Mayor Shafiqul Islam Habi presided
over the inaugural function also addressed, among others,
by Gouripur Upazila Chairman Ali Ahmed Khan Selbi, Upazila
Awami League Vice President Prof Ruhul Amin, Executive
Engineer of LGED Shahidul Islam and local Press Club
President Nurul Islam.
Speaking at the function as the chief guest, Captain (retd)
Mujibur Rahman Fakir said balanced development of the
country and people's welfare would not be possible without
planned urbanization and providing healthcare to the
doorsteps of the masses.
He said the present government of Sheikh Hasina is pledge-
bound to make the country digitally developed and
economically self-reliant by taking various pragmatic
steps.
The state minister said the government's initiative to
build Digital Bangladesh aimed at speeding up the function
of administration as well as making it pro-people and
transparent so that people could properly reap the benefit
of the welfare activities of the government.
He hoped that digital tax collection system would reduce
the sufferings of the people and check tax dodging.
Gouripur Municipality Mayor Shafiqul Islam Habi told BSS
that from now around 5,000 holing taxpayers under the
municipality would receive computer-generated papers
mentioning the amount of payable tax and would be able to
pay it through banks.
Earlier, the state minister handed over an ambulance for
Gouripur Upazila Health Complex to the officials concerned
at a simple ceremony.
Sports
Mexico beats France 2-0 at World Cup
AP/UNB, Polokwane
Substitutes Javier Hern-andez and Cuauhtemoc Blanco scored a
goal each Thursday in Mexico's 2-0 win over France at the
World Cup, leaving the French on the verge of elimination from
Group A.
Hernandez ran onto Rafael Marquez's pass and rounded
goalkeeper Hugo Lloris before guiding the ball home in the
64th minute. Hernandez's gran-dfather, Tomas Bal-cazar, scored
for Mexico against France in the 1954 World Cup, although that
was a consolation goal. Blanco converted a penalty in the 79th
after Eric Abidal fouled Pablo Barrera.
Mexico is now level on points with Uruguay, both with four.
France and South Africa both have one point but still have a
chance to advance. France has to beat South Africa and hope
Mexico and Uruguay don't draw their match in Tuesday's final
group games. For France coach Raymond Domenech, it seems like
a case of the 2008 European Championship all over again, with
a scoreless draw followed by a defeat, and his controversial
six years as coach could end in more embarrassment.
On the other side, it may have been tactical brilliance
because all three of Mexico coach Javier Aguirre's second-half
substitutes made an impact.
Mexico could have scored more against a French defense which
looked anything but secure, with Abidal caught out of position
on both goals. Abidal is normally a left back but Domenech
picked him at center half alongside William Gallas.
Domenech changed his formation after the team's lackluster 0-0
draw against Uruguay last week, switching to a 4-2-3-1 lineup
with Franck Ribery in the playmaker role behind striker
Nicolas Anelka. Aguirre chose a 4-3-3 formation and stuck with
the same attackers that started in the 1-1 draw against South
Africa, with Carlos Vela and Giovani Dos Santos in wide
positions and Guillermo Franco in the center forward's role.
Sidney Govou's inclusion was a surprise to many observers
after his poor performance against Mexico, but Domenech kept
him on the right wing. Govou gave right back Bacary Sagna
little protection, however, and Mexico soon figured out that
pushing Salcido higher up the field was a dangerous option.
Jeremy Toulalan will miss Tuesday's match against South Africa
for picking up another yellow card, and Efrain Juarez will
have to sit out the match against Uruguay for the same reason.
Serbia
beats Germany 1-0
AFP, Port Elizabeth
Serbia beats Germany, down a man after Miroslav Klose was sent
off, 1-0 in Group D World Cup game here on Friday.
Klose, four shy of Ronaldo's World Cup record of 15 goals,
picked up the first booking of the game and then a second,
from Spanish referee Alberto Undiano, in the 37th minute for a
rash tackle on Serbia captain Dejan Stankevic.
Less than a minute later Serbia went ahead after a fine
three-man move.
Milos Krasic sent a high ball in from the right post for
Nikola Zigic, the tallest player at 2m 2cm high, to head down
for Milan Jovanovic to flick in past keeper Manuel Neuer. A
goal and a man down Germany have a mountain to climb to get
back into the match but they almost grabbed a first half
stoppage time equaliser when Sami Khedira's shot hit the
crossbar.
Klose had had the ball in the back of Wigan keeper Vladimir
Stojkovic's net on the half hour but the linesman's flag had
already been raised for offside.
Asia
Cup one-day international
Sri Lanka makes 312-4 against Bangladesh
AFP, Dambulla
Tillakaratne Dilshan sma-shed 71 off 51 balls to lift Sri
Lanka to 312-4 in the Asia Cup one-day international
against Bangladesh on Friday.
Dilshan and Upul Tharanga set the ball rolling with an
opening stand of 111 by the 16th over after the defending
champions won the toss and elected to bat in the day-night
match.
Tharanga (54) and skipper Kumar Sangakkara (52) hit
half-centuries to build on Dilshan's aggressive knock
which included 11 boundaries and a six.
Mahela Jayawardene chipped in with 43 during a
third-wicket stand of 69 with Sangakkara.
Angelo Mathews (42 not out) and Chamara Kap-ugedera (37
not out) hammered 73 runs in the last 10 overs to help Sri
Lanka notch up the highest total ever at the Rangiri
stadium. Sri Lanka, who won their first match against
Pakis-tan, will almost certainly assure themselves of
playing the final on June 24 if they beat Bangladesh.
Bangladesh are in a must-win situation after losing to
India.
Higuain and Tevez show it’s
not all about Messi
AP/UNB, Johannesburg
A Gonzalo Higuain hat trick and an electrifying
performance from Carlos Tevez in Thursday's 4-1 win over
South Korea showed that Argentina is far from being a
one-man team.
While all eyes were on Lionel Messi prior to the match,
the Real Madrid and Manchester City strikers revealed the
Argentines have true strength in depth.
Despite struggling to qualify for the competition, few
would now bet against them going on to win it after their
second stirring display in a week.
"We deserved this triumph because this was the type of
outcome we'd hinted at achieving against Nigeria," said
coach Diego Maradona, referring to the opening 1-0 victory
last Saturday in which his forwards squandered several
chances. "This time it happened for us."
Higuain in particular had been under pressure in recent
days, but Maradona kept the Real Madrid striker in the
starting lineup. Until the 33rd minute, when his header
put Argentina 2-0 up, there had been few signs of what was
to come.
By the end of the match, Higuain had added a tap-in and a
header - in the 76th and 80th minutes - to score the first
hat trick of the tournament. He's now the top scorer in
South Africa. "I knew I was getting chances but I needed
to convert them," he said. "I'm very happy to score the
goals, but we have to think of the team as a whole."
Tevez, whose place in the team was in doubt before the
opening game, reproduced the form he regularly shows in
the English Premier League, bursting past defenders,
battling for every ball and energizing Argentina's attacks
when South Korea was threatening to get back into the
game.
With Messi playing in a slightly deeper role, Argentina
had initially lacked a cutting edge, its main threat
coming down the left from Tevez, Angel Di Maria and
Gabriel Heinze. The Barcelona forward was frequently
running into two or three South Koreans who were probably
calculating that if you stop Messi, you stop Argentina.
Messi gradually found his way, and was instrumental in
Argentina's final two goals. But he didn't quite replicate
the dazzling display against Nigeria.
Australia preparing for Ghana pace attack at World
Cup
AP/UNB, Johannesburg
A blur of pace, with young legs storming down the wings.
Australia's chastened World Cup team is preparing to come
up against more of the same on Saturday, but hope
overconfidence will prove Ghana's undoing.
Australia's aging midfield and defense was destroyed by a
youthful German team 4-0 in its opening match, and the
nature of the defeat will be used as a blueprint by the
African side in the crucial Group D match in Rustenburg.
Australia midfielder Vince Grella was ruled out of the
match on Thursday after injuring his knee at training a
day earlier. With midfielder Tim Cahill also missing after
being sent off against Germany and doubts over forward
Harry Kewell's ability to play a major role as he recovers
from injury, Grella's setback is a blow to a team needing
to avoid defeat to stay alive in the competition. Ghana
midfielder Ibrahim Ayew said his team would expose the
same flaws that were exploited by Germany.
"Australia must know we are going to attack and attack
them," Ayew said. "We are going to go all out. We will
dominate them. We know they have some weak sides, and we
will take advantage.
We are young and we are really going to use our pace."
Australia left back Scott Chipperfield, who endured a
torrid night against Thomas Mueller in Durban, is
expecting another big challenge.
"(Ghana is) a strong team, unpredictable and fast all over
the park," Chipperfield said. "Of course, they're
confident after their 1-0 win against Serbia. Maybe that
can play into our hands." Criticized for his selections
against Germany, Australia coach Pim Verbeek responded by
questioning his players' on-field organization.
And Chipperfield acknowledged that the Socceroos were
dragged out of shape by Germany's midfield brilliance.
"Maybe the defenders played too high a line, but the main
problem was they had the time and space in midfield to
play the ball in behind us," Chipper-field said. "Hop-efully
we control the ball better than we did against Germany -
that's a factor we need to improve." Several Austra-lian
players are set to quit international football after the
tournament, and Chi-pperfield said the impending end would
help to lift the team.
Brazil delighted to have tougher opponents ahead
AP/UNB,
Johannesburg
After struggling against lowly-ranked North Korea, Brazil
is looking forward to facing better opponents at the World
Cup.
The five-time champion Brazilians are hoping that more
offensive teams such as Ivory Coast and Portugal will
actually make things easier for them in Group G.
North Korea's solid defensive setup caused problems for
Brazil, which needed two second-half goals to win
Tuesday's match 2-1 at Johan-nesburg's Ellis Park.
Brazil is hoping Ivory Coast will not take such a
defensive approach at Soccer City on Sunday and give some
space for the Brazilian attack to exploit.
"We don't think they will come out defending so much,"
Brazil striker Robinho said. "It's a very tough challenge
when the other team is only trying to defend, it becomes
very complicated for us." Ivory Coast is known for having
a more offensive-minded team, and is likely to try to
attack more because it needs a victory to get into a good
position in the group following the 0-0 draw with
Portugal.
"It's easier to defend than to create," Brazil striker
Nilmar said. "But the Ivory Coast has a lot of quality
players who play in top clubs. They will be trying to beat
us so they can advance from the group."
Struggling South Africa
look on bright side
AFP, Johannesburg
South Africa offered a smiling face Friday as they
prepared for a must-win World Cup clash against fellow
strugglers France.
The host nation are bottom of Group A with one point from
two matches and a minus-three goal difference, and could
hammer the French and still not make the knockout phase.
But the few dozen supporters of Bafana Bafana (The Boys)
who braved chilly winter weather at the Wits University
campus on the fringe of central Johannesburg saw a happy
squad go through their paces.
"We are all happy and you can see the boys are laughing.
Losing is part of life and we have to move on," Everton
midfielder and Player of the Year Steven Pienaar told
reporters.
"It is normal for a professional footballer to be
disappointed after losing a game, but you have to forget
about it," he said referring to the 3-0 midweek hiding by
Diego Forlan-inspired Uruguay in Pretoria. Uruguay
(plus-three goal difference) and Mexico (plus two) have
four points each and France (minus two) and South Africa
one apiece ahead of the June 22 final pool fixtures.
While South Africa face 1998 champions France at Vodacom
Park in central city Bloemfontein, Uruguay and Mexico
square off in north-west platinum town Rustenburg with a
draw taking both teams through.
South African hopes of dodging the unwanted record of
becoming the first host nation not to reach the second
round hinge on a handsome victory over France and Uruguay
or Mexico winning. Coach Carlos Alberto Parreira refused
to dismiss France despite a lacklustre second-half showing
in Polokwane where Mexico scored twice to end an 80-year
win-less run against their opponents.
"We are in an extremely tough group and France will be
very difficult to beat so we must play with a lot of
spirit," stressed the coach of the 1994 Brazil World
Cup-winning team.
"South Africa has good players and a good team and we did
a good job to hold Mexico. It is not easy to contain the
Mexicans as the French discovered on Thursday night.
"There is respect for the French, but we do not fear them.
We want to play well and finish the competition in style
by winning," said the 67-year-old grandfather who retires
to Rio de Janeiro when South Africa bow out.
While Parreira has won the tournament and reached the 2006
quarter-finals with the Samba Boys, he has yet to deliver
a World Cup victory in 10 attempts with Kuwait, United
Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia or South Africa.
Draws for Kuwait against Czechoslovakia and South Africa
against Mexico is all he has to brag about and eight
losses include a 4-0 drubbing for the Saudis against hosts
France that triggered his sacking before the final group
game.
Tradition hints at Parreira departing the world stage
without that elusive triumph as France have won twice and
drawn once in three clashes with Bafana Bafana.
Confident Paraguay face Slovakia test
AFP, Bloemfontein
Paraguay head into their clash with European minnows
Slovakia in Bloemfontein on Sunday knowing a win will go a
long way towards securing a place in the knockout phase.
Paraguay already have on paper what looked their toughest
game in Group F out of the way, drawing 1-1 with defending
world champions Italy in their opener while Slovakia were
shell-shocked after conceding a last-gasp equaliser
against New Zealand.
The South Americans came into the tournament in great
shape after beating Brazil and Argentina in qualifying and
will fancy their chances of reaching the last 16 after
holding the group favourites in Cape Town.
Argentinian coach Gerardo Martino said taking a point from
the Italy game had given the team a confidence boost but
said Paraguay needed to "improve on our possession and how
we move the ball."
The South Americans are in their fourth straight finals
with much of the credit given to Martino, who has managed
to negotiate a delicate transition phase for his team.
Paraguay's goalscoring threats include Nelson Valdez of
Borussia Dortmund, Roque Santa Cruz of Manchester City and
Oscar Cardozo of Benfica.
Their tight and effective defensive unit is marshalled by
goalkeeper Justo Villar.
The South Americans are dedicating their games to Salvador
Cabanas, the 2007 South American footballer of the year
who was shot in the head in the toilet of a Mexico City
bar in January. He survived, but is on a long road to
recovery.
While Paraguay also let a lead slip in their opener, the
stoppage time equaliser conceded by Slovakia meant their
draw against New Zealand felt like a defeat and they
missed out on establishing a crucial early advantage in
Group F. Head coach Vladimir Weiss described the late
equaliser to Robert Vittek's opener as a "small sporting
tragedy for us." Napoli midfielder Marek Hamsik is the
main dangerman for Slovakia with other threats coming from
striker Stanislav Sestak, who plays for Budesliga club VfL
Bochum, and Miroslav Stoch, a winger who has just been
sold by Chelsea to Turkish giants Fenerbahce after a
successful season on loan at Dutch champions FC Twente.
Spain looking for Honduras win after Swiss shock
AP/UNB,
Potchefstroom
Left with no margin for error, Spain is evaluating how to
play against Honduras following its opening World Cup loss
in which Fernando Torres and Cesc Fabregas failed to make
the starting lineup.
Switzerland's 1-0 victory on Wednesday means the European
champions cannot lose Monday's Group H match at Ellis Park
if they want to advance to the second round.
Xabi Alonso reiterated that Spain will stick to its
possession-based game, but that coach Vicente del Bosque
was considering making player changes.
"Nothing's decided yet. Logically, the coach is analyzing
(the game)," Alonso said Friday from the team's base in
Potchefstroom. "It's hard to evaluate, especially since
the system worked well in the warmup games coming in. The
coach makes the decisions and whatever he decides, the
players back him 100 percent." Del Bosque was criticized
by former coach Luis Aragones, who led Spain to the 2008
European Championship title, for picking two holding
midfielders - Alonso and Sergio Busquets - and only David
Villa as striker. That left Torres and Fabregas - rated as
two of the world's best players - out of the lineup.
"With the last coach, I was player No. 12 and he showed
that with his decisions. This coach has opted for other
players at times," Fabregas, an unused substitute against
the Swiss, told Marca. "I'm not getting the minutes I
would like, but it's not affecting my work habits."
Portugal seeks more firepower in attack vs NKorea
AP/UNB, Magaliesburg
It's time for The Professor to show some passion. Portugal
coach Carlos Queiroz is known for his cool rationality and
football theorizing, qualities that have earned him the
moniker The Professor.
After Portugal's cautious 0-0 draw against Ivory Coast in
its Group G opener on Tuesday, Queiroz is under pressure
to show against North Korea on Monday that he also has
fire in his belly. That means more daring tactics going
forward.
"We've been working hard on our scoring this week. We have
to start putting the ball in the net," Liedson said Friday
after a training session that went longer than usual, at
about two hours. "Queiroz has been focusing on that."
Liedson was playing center forward when Portugal forced
Ivory Coast's goalkeeper to make only one save over in the
match. Queiroz has his full squad available for Portugal's
assault on a North Korean back line that defended so
stoutly against Brazil that it took the five-time World
Cup champions almost an hour to break the deadlock before
winning 2-1.
The game in Cape Town could prove decisive for Portugal's
ambitions in South Africa. It could also provide a tonic
for an unsettled team that is ranked third in world but
hasn't demonstrated the kind of polished football
associated with that rating. For Queiroz, a tall
57-year-old with graying hair who left the assistant
manager's job at Manchester United to take the helm at
Portugal, a strong showing would help silence the
doubters. His two-year tenure has brought questions about
his caliber and suitability for the job.
Portugal's qualification for South Africa was a bumpy
ride. Three 0-0 draws, including one at home against
10-man Albania, dropped the team to fifth in the group
before it recovered to qualify through the playoffs.
Queiroz also oversaw a 6-2 thrashing by Brazil in a
friendly. The constant gripe of fans and commentators has
been that Portugal under Queiroz is too prudent, too wary
going forward, and too ponderous.
"Please think big ... Take risks! Do whatever it takes to
win," Portuguese daily paper Diario de Noticias urged
Queiroz in an editorial after the Ivory Coast draw. "If we
have to go out of the World Cup early, at least let us
leave with a clear conscience, having pushed ourselves to
the limit."
Dutch face Japan in potential group topping game
AFP, Durban
The Netherlands face Japan here on Saturday with both
teams in a position to battle for top spot in Group E, a
position that would see them potentially avoid Italy in
the second round.
The Dutch beat Denmark 2-0 in their first game while the
Japanese shocked Cameroon 1-0 for their first ever World
Cup victory on foreign soil. The African side play the
Danes in Saturday's late match.
Dutch coach Bert Van Marwijk said the familiarity with
Denmark's game made for a no-mistakes contest on Monday,
but he was expecting a different challenge against the
Japanese.
"Now the players are more relaxed and less nervous after
their opening game I expect a better performance against
Japan," he said.
"The opening game in a tournament is always difficult, and
while our first-half performance was not up to our
standard, we should have worked things out better over
this week in training."
But the Oranje, two-time beaten World Cup finalists in
1974 and 1978, will likely be without star Bayern Munich
winger Arjen Robben, who has failed to recover from a left
hamstring injury sustained in a 6-1 friendly win over
Hungary just before the tournament started.
"He is coming along well, but he is not yet ready to play
for an entire game and it could be another eight days,"
van Marwijk said.
"I have to talk with our medical staff about Arjen, but I
wouldn't expect him to be at his top until next week."
In their last encounter together, the Dutch beat Japan 3-0
in a friendly in Enschede in September, but the Blue
Samurai dominated early on before conceding three goals in
the last 20 minutes.
But that result has not prevented Japanese coach Takeshi
Okada, who prior to the finals said he wanted the Japanese
to reach the last four, from saying that despite all the
Dutch players posing a danger, it was pointless going for
a draw.
"My players are highly motivated now and they are raring
to go," said Okada.
"I'm half-idealist and half-realist. I will take many
things into consideration and aim to win."
"There will be a chance for us to win," midfielder Junichi
Inamoto said, adding that the win over Cameroon had bucked
an unwanted losing trend to Serbia, South Korea, England
and Ivory Coast in warm-ups, with only one goal scored.
Robinho thrives as Kaka struggles
AFP, Johannesburg
Manchester City fans might not believe it, but Robinho is
the toast of the Brazilian World Cup squad.
With Kaka not firing on all cylinders after a difficult
season at Real Madrid it is Robinho who looks like being
key to Brazil's hopes of lifting a sixth world title.
With coach Dunga demanding the South Americans be miserly
at the back and show grit in central midfield, it's
Robinho who could be the man to unlock the tightest
defence. The former Real Madrid man certainly appeared to
be revelling in the role with his slide rule pass
providing Elano's clinching goal in the 2-1 win over North
Korea.
Baby-faced Robinho is now approching the veteran stage at
international level with 71 caps, having made his bow in
2003. He already has a Copa America title and two
Confederations Cups. But at club level, he has blown hot
and cold. Two league titles at Real were followed by an
unproductive year at Manchester City.
Now on loan at Santos, Pele's former club, he appears to
have recharged batteries which looked semi-drained at
times at Eastlands. "I am in a really good place right now
and I want to carry on improving," said Robinho.
That will be music to the ears of Dunga who is unstinting
in his praise of his forward. "Robinho can play in various
positions and I am very pleased with how he is doing. Just
think that last year he was with Manchester, nobody loved
him and there were even calls for me to drop him."
Mensah braced for cat and mouse battle with
Australia
AFP, Rustenburg
Ghana captain John Mensah is not expecting Australia to
throw caution to the wind as they seek to revive their
World Cup campaign by beating the Black Stars here on
Saturday.
Australia were punished for playing an open game against
Germany in their group D opener and the 4-0 defeat has
left the Socceroos facing virtually certain elimination if
they lose to Ghana at the Royal Bafokeng stadium.
Ghana, in contrast, are on a high after a 1-0 win over
Serbia that has given them a great chance of reaching the
last 16, as they did in Germany four years ago.
"The tournament couldn't have started much better for us,
winning our opening game against a tough Serbian team,"
said Mensah.
"But now we're looking to go on and we're totally focused
on Australia.
"I didn't watch all of the Australia v Germany game but I
watched little bits. Germany created a lot of chances but
I don't think that's the way Australia are going to be
against us. I think it's going to be different."
Mensah, who is hoping a loan move to Sunderland from
French club Lyon will be made permanent after the Word
Cup, also revealed that he is finally feeling fully fit
after a season blighted by recurring injuries.
"There was a problem in my back that caused problems in my
calves and the backs of my legs, but they have a good
physio, and I have my own physio out here with me now at
the World Cup," he said. "But I'm fine now, feeling good.
"We got to the second round in Germany four years ago, but
things change in football and I cannot prophesy that we
will do that again, but we are all determined and focused
on our mission."
Argentina dazzle South Korea, France face exit
AFP, Johannesburg
Two former World Cup winners enjoyed contrasting fortunes
on Thursday when Argentina thrashed South Korea but France
were left on the brink of a first-round exit after a 2-0
defeat to Mexico.
The World Cup burst into life as Argentina striker Gonzalo
Higuain scored the first hat-trick of the tournament as
the 1978 and 1986 champions beat the Koreans 4-1 with a
dazzling display at Johannesburg's Soccer City. The
victory leaves Argentina virtually certain of
qualification for the last 16 from Group B.
But a wretched France never looked likely to beat Mexico
in Polokwane and slumped to defeat after livewire
substitute Javier Hernandez scored in the 64th minute and
veteran Mexican striker Cuauhtemoc Blanco converted a
penalty with 11 minutes left. The result means Uruguay and
Mexico only need to draw in their final Group A game on
Tuesday to qualify for the next stage and send France
crashing out.
The French, who won on home soil in 1998 and were
runners-up four years ago in Germany, have been beset by
problems since arriving in South Africa. The French sports
minister criticised the opulence of their training camp
and unpopular coach Raymond Domenech and his players have
reportedly been at loggerheads.
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