SUnday, june 20, 2010 ashar 6, 1417, RAJAB 7, 1431 Hijri

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Leading News

BUET closed sine die
All students asked to quit halls

UNB, Dhaka

Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) was closed sine die Saturday following unrest among the students over the commencement of summer vacation.
The BUET authorities asked male students to quit halls by 8-30pm and female students by 10am today (Sunday).
The campus sources said the students were demanding summer vacation from June 20 instead of official schedule on June 26.
The sources said some students closed the main entrance of the university on Saturday morning to press for their demand. The trouble began when a student tried to enter the campus by rickshaw through the main entrance, the protesting students picked up quarrel with him and got into tussle.
After this, two groups of students fought with each other at Dr MA Rashid Hall at noon, leaving one student wounded.
As the unrest started escalating in different dormitories, the BUET authorities issued a notice at 6pm declaring the university closed for indefinite period to avoid any unpleasant incident.

 BNP to hold countrywide demonstration today
People have turned against the present govt : Fakhrul

UNB, Dhaka

Opposition BNP will hold demonstrations and bring out processions in the capital as well as at the district and upazila headquarters today demanding trial of the "killing of journalists and protesting repression on them."
The demonstration is also designed to protest the government "control" over press and shutdown of the private TV Channel 1.
After the mass sit-in in the capital on June 9, the Sunday's programme is the second of the three days of anti-government movement including the June 27 countrywide dawn-to-dusk hartal called by BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia from May 19 grand rally at the capital's Paltan Maidan.
The demonstration was scheduled to be held on June 17 but it was shifted to Sunday (June 20) due to the Chittagong City Corporation elections on the day. In capital Dhaka, the demonstration will be held at Muktangon at 3pm.
Meanwhile, BNP senior joint secretary general Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Saturday said people have turned against the present 'fascist' government, as reflected through the just concluded Chittagong City Corporation election, terming it as a turning point.
BNP backed candidate Manjur Alam was elected the port city's Mayor by a huge margin, defeating the ruling Awami League supported mayor candidate, three-time mayor of Chittagong ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury in Thursday's election.
The BNP senior joint secretary made the remarks addressing a discussion at Jatiya Press Club organized by Bangladesh Mafossal Manobodihkar Sangbadik Forum to observe the 'Black Day for Press'.
Fakhrul said people have won the movements against various autocratic regimes as well as against the emergency government of 2007, and people are now starting again to move against the present AL-led regime.
He called upon all to join the future anti-government movement.
Presided over by the forum's president Sakhawat Hossain Ibne, the discussion was also addressed by Jamaat-e-Islami assistant secretary general Abdul Kader Mollah, Jatiyatabadi Jubodal president Syed Moazzem Hossain Alal, president of one faction of BFUJ Ruhul Amin Gazi and secretary general MA Aziz.

 Demand for agr, power, ICT sectors to be met: Muhith
UNB, Dhaka

Finance Minister AMA Muhith on Saturday said that demands for the agriculture, energy and power and ICT sectors would be met no matter what amount is allotted for them in the budget.
"Don't look at the allocation for the agriculture, ICT, energy and power sector, their demands will be met. Whatever way we can do it, their demands will be met," he said while addressing a CPD Dialogue on 'State of Bangladesh Economy in 2009-10 and Analysis of Budget 2010-11' held at a city hotel.
Chaired by renowned economist Rehman Sobhan, Economic Affairs Adviser to the Prime Minister Dr. Mashiur Rahman addressed as special guest while economist Wahiduddin Mahmud and former adviser to the caretaker government Mirza Azizul Islam also addressed the dialogue.
CPD executive director Dr. Mustafizur Rahman made the key-note presentation.
Speaking on the occasion, Muhith hoped that a public discussion on the draft 6th Five-Year Plan would be held next month before it is finalized and goes to parliament.
On the important issue of energy/power financing, the Finance Minister said that they will have to depend largely on Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) and private investment. On the rental power plants, he said that it's not good to have these plants adding, "But, we don't have any options. We can't have quick power without rental plants,"
Muhith hinted that the trade and investment policy could be reintroduced. He also informed that the industrial policy would be finalized next month and it will go to the cabinet shortly. He observed that investment has to come very largely from private sector through PPP or IPP to increase the ratio of investment to GDP.
The Finance Minister was quite upbeat on the fact that the ADP implementation of the current fiscal would be around Tk 28,000 crore out of the revised ADP of Tk 28,500 crore. Speaking on the occasion as guest of honour, Prof Wahiduddin Mahmud said that change is needed to bring efficiency in the economic and social system to raise GDP growth to 7 to 8 per cent in the next six years.
"The GDP growth in the decade of 1980's was 4 per cent, in the 1990s 5 per cent and after 2000 it was 6 per cent on average. We needed 20 years to increase 2 per cent growth," he added.
On the budget deficit, he said that increasing expenditure on the non development and social safety net sectors while increasing the budget deficit would not be sustainable. He also opined that the demand system should have to shaped in such way so that the investment activities could generate the economic activities. Former caretaker government adviser Mirza Azizul Islam termed the budget for next fiscal as not ambitious in terms of public demand but termed it ambitious in relation to the implementation capacity. He observed that power crisis is the most binding constraint to the economic growth.

   50 injured in Police-RMG workers clash at Savar
UNB, Savar

At least 50 people were injured in a clash between law enforcers and garment workers in Savar Export Processing Zone on Saturday morning.
Police said workers of some 16 garment factories blocked EPZ-Abdullahpur road at about 8:30 am demanding fulfillment of their various demands including wage increase.
On information, RAB and police rushed to the spot and brought the situation under control after dispersing the workers. But at 10am the workers of 50 garments factories again gathered in the area and blocked the road to press home their demands. A chase and counter chase between the law enforcers and workers took place that left 50 people injured.

   FBCCI election ends, 90.70 pc voters exercise franchise
UNB, Dhaka

The biennial election of the country's apex trade body Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBBCI) ended peacefully on Saturday amid a festive mood.
The vote counting was going on when the last report came in at 8:45pm
Earlier, in the morning, hundreds of businessmen and businesswomen gathered in and around the FBCCI building to lend support to their respective candidates. They remained there the whole day and were waiting for results as the vote-counting began.
Out of 1698 eligible voters, 1540 voters (1199 under association group and 341 from chamber group) cast their votes to elect 28 directors - 14 each from association and chamber groups, according to election board officials.
Some 90.70 per cent voters exercised their franchise.
Voters cast their votes through 16 booths set up at the 8th floor of FBCCI building. The voting started at about 9 am and continued till 5:20 pm without any break.
While talking to journalists at the voting center, outgoing FBCCI president Annisul Huq said voters cast their votes peacefully and in disciplined manner. Asked about his feeling as an outgoing president of country's trade apex body, he said: "I'm happy today.

   9 killed in Sirajganj, Dinajpur, Cox’s Bazar road crashes
UNB, Dhaka

Nine people were killed in road crashes at different places on Saturday. Three people were killed and another was injured in a road accident in Ghurka area of Rayganj upazila under Sirajgonj on Dhaka-Bogra highway Saturday morning.
Two of the deceased were identified as Rajsam Kunda, 65, and his son Meghnath Kunda, 35. The injured was admitted to Bogra Mohammad Ali Hospital in critical condition. On information, police recovered the bodies and sent those to Sadar hospital morgue for autopsy.
Another report from Dinajpur adds: Two physicians were killed and seven others, including a child, injured in a head-on collision between a truck and a microbus at Kanaighat in Ghoraghat upazila Saturday morning.
The deceased were identified as Dr Tayebur Rahman, 55, and Dr Yousuf Ali, 60. They were the professors of Surgical Department of Dinajpur Medical College.
The accident occurred at about 8 am when the Rajdhahi-bound microbus carrying nine people collided with the truck coming from opposite direction, leaving the two doctors killed on the spot.
Another report from Cox's Bazar adds: Four people were killed and five others injured as a microbus fell into a roadside ditch in sadar upazila on Cox's Bazar-Chittagong highway on Saturday noon. The accident occurred when the micro-bus plunged into the roadside ditch after its driver lost control over the steering, leaving a man dead on the spot and eight others critically injured. The injured people were admitted to sadar Hospital where three of them succumbed to their injuries.

   1000-1200 MW rental power plants being set up
UNB, Sangsad Bhaban

The government has planned to set up 1000-1200 MW liquid based 'quick rental power plants' which could be implemented within 3-9 months to keep the current power deficit at a tolerable level.
State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Enamul Huq said in parliament Saturday that presently, on average 3800-4300 MW electricity is being produced daily.
Replying to Gias Uddin Ahmed (AL), he said a program has been undertaken to produce 6826 MW electricity by 2014 in the public, private/PPP sector based on gas, coal, diesel, furnace oil, duel fuel and renewable energy under the short, medium and long-term plan.
According to the plan some 360 MW in the public sector and 432 MW in the private sector will be produced this year and 920 MW in 2011.
The State Minister told Zafrul Islam Chowdhury (BNP) that despite increasing production of electricity, load shedding continues because of the growing demand.
He said to combat the load shedding the government has undertaken schemes to produce 9426 MW by 2015 by establishing new power plants based on liquid fuel, coal, duel fuel and renewable energy alongside the gas based power plants keeping in consideration the gas deficit in the future.
Besides, Enamul said steps were taken to save power through demand side management. Under the Efficient Lightning Initiative for Bangladesh (ELIB), he said 2.8 crore traditional bulbs will be replaced by Compact Fluorescent Lamp (CFL) to save the power.

Back Page

Efforts being made to provide legal aid for the poor
UNB, Dhaka

Law Minister Barrister Shafique Ahmed on Saturday said the government takes all out efforts to provide legal aid to the poor, vulnerable and financially incapable people who do
not have access to seek remedy before the court.
"The government is sincere about protect the fundamental rights of the people as enshrined in the constitution," said Barrister Shafique while addressing a seminar as chief guest at Hotel Sheraton.
RDRS, a leading foreign-aided NGO in Bangladesh, organized the seminar titled "Effective use of District Legal Aid Fund."
The technocrat asserted that the constitutional provision that all citizens are equal before law and are entitled to equal protection of the law--cannot be established if one party before the court is weak.
The Law Minister said the previous Awami League government had enacted the Legal Aid Act 2000 in the light of the Constitutional obligation to provide help the poor, vulnerable and financially incapable people who do not have access to seek remedies before the court.
But the flaws in the procedural process impede securing legal aid in favour of the targeted people, said the Law Minister. As a result the fund allocated annually for the purpose remains unutilized, he added.
The Law Minister called upon the NGOs who provide legal aid to the poor, to make a countrywide campaign in favour of the government efforts in this regard.
Presided over by advocate Syeda Rizwana Hasan, chief executive of Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers' Association (BELA), the seminar was addressed, among others, by Advocate Sultana Kamal and Rasheda K Chowdhury, advisers to the past caretaker government, Advocate Salma Ali, executive director of Bangladesh National Women Lawyers'
Association (BNWLA), Syed Aminul Islam, director of National Legal Aid Services Organization, Ian Morrison, director of Bangladesh Legal Reform Project and Manjurul Ahsan Bulbul, Editor-in-Chief of Boishakhi Television.
Advocate Saidur Rahman presented the key-note paper.

   Present gas supply 2000 mmcfd against demand of 2300 mmcfd

UNB, Sangsad Bhaban

Gas supply in the country at present stands at 2000 million cubit feet per day (mmcfd) as against the demand of 2300 mmcfd, Parliament was told Saturday.
Replying to written question of Golam Dastagir Gazi (Awami League-Narayanganj), State Minister for Power and Energy M Enamul Huq said the demand for gas is increasing day by day as this is environment- friendly and cost-effective.
He informed the House that the government has taken various steps to increase the gas production. The government is also continuing its motivational programme to replace gas-inefficient equipment with gas-efficient ones, he said.
The state minister said that the government is monitoring the 'holiday staggering' programme under the load management system of the Titas Network included factories with the consent from the business forum leaders.
"The government is also implementing various programmes to stop the illegal use of gas."
He mentioned that work is going on to detect illegal gas connections, and realizing the outstanding bills from the consumers. "As a result, the system loss for the gas is now below 2 per cent," he said.

   No criminal would be spared for ensuring safety and security: Sahara

BSS, Sylhet

Home Minister Advocate Sahara Khatun on Saturday said no criminal would be spared for ensuring security and safety of the people and the nation as well.
"The criminals, be they Awami Leaguers or relatives of any minister or Member of Parliament (MP), would not be spared," she said while addressing a law and order meeting at the local circuit house.
Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Education Dewan Farid Gazi, Mayor of Sylhet Badar Uddin Ahmed Kamran, Hafiz Ahmed Majumder MP, Imran Ahmed MP, Mahmudus Samad Chowdhury MP, Syeda Jebunnesa Huq MP, Divisional Commissioner Golam Rabbani and Sylhet sector commander of BDR Colonel Niamul Kabir, among others, also addressed the meeting.
It was attended by local Awami League leaders, Poura and Upazilas chairmen and representatives of different professional and civil society groups with Deputy Commissioner in the chair.
The Home Minister asked the members of the law enforcement agencies to arrest those involved in land grabbing anywhere of the region, if the sufferers fail to lodge any complain.
Referring to the recent situation along the Sylhet border, she said preparations for holding a meeting of the joint boundary working group to defuse the tension is in progress.
"The overall law and order in the region is far better than that in the past but the government is not satisfied as the extortion, land grabbing and killing are still on," she said.
Sahara Khatun said a piece of land can not be captured forcibly if there are valid documents and that must go through the proper process of law.
"The land grabbers under no circumstance would get any concession from the government," she said adding that the grenade attackers and their godfathers in Sylhet were still moving freely around and they must be handed over to the law enforcers.
The Home Minister called upon the political leaders, government officials and people of all strata to come forward for building the digital Bangladesh by 2021.

   Formation of health and population regulatory commission suggested

BSS, Dhaka

Public health professionals and media personalities on Saturday urged the government to form an independent regulatory commission that would oversee the health and population sector, including the booming pharmaceutical industries in Bangladesh.
"The proposed health and population regulatory commission must be independent and free from interference of the government," director of James P Grant School of Public Health Dr Anwarul Islam told a roundtable in the city today.
The daily Bhorer Kagoj organized the roundtable on "How Health Sector is Performing?" at its office in the city. Editor of the daily Shyamol Datta moderated the function.
Dr Anwar, also a noted international development expert, said the regulatory commission inception could not alone help improve the existing irregularities and malpractices in the health and population sector unless it is sincerely backed by the government. In this context, he said the commission must have enough manpower and budgetary support to run the activities independently.
Country Director of WaterAid Bangladesh Dr Khairul Islam said a regulatory commission like that of energy and telecommunication was a must in Bangladesh, where anomalies and rampant corruption have been depriving millions of access to healthcare as well as quality services from both public and private hospitals. He referred to a paradox of inquiry against staff irregularities in public hospitals and said colleagues of the accused were given responsibility to investigate the complaints.
As a result, he said, biased reports come out of the investigation and the corrupt are encouraged to continue their acts without any fear.
Shyamol Datta said the commission should be formed immediately to check the malpractices not only by some doctors and diagnostic testing laboratories but also by some pharmaceutical companies who are reportedly manufacturing poor quality drugs.
He said the proposed commission, which would comprise members from all concerned sectors, would have power to oversee and regulate every aspect of health, population and drug administrations in Bangladesh.
Line Director of Directorate of Family Planning Dr AKM Mahbubur Rahman said the proposed health and population regulatory commission must have representatives from Bangladesh Medical Association.
He said the commission must be an independent body, which would control all the existing controlling authorities of health sector. He said the commission should be assisted by the ministry instead of governing it.

    Dependence on PPP for power sector dev to be suicidal: Jamaat-e-Islami

UNB, Dhaka

Terming the proposed national budget for fiscal 2010-11 as highly ambitious and impractical, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami Saturday said it will be suicidal to depend on public private partnership (PPP) for the development of power sector.
Giving formal reaction on the budget at a press briefing at the party's central office, Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Matiur Rahman Nizami said the government is "conspiring" to make the country's energy sector dependent on others instead of achieving self-dependence.
He said: "It seems such suicidal decision of the government might be designed to import energy from a particular country."
Nizami said that in the last budget, the government spoke highly about the PPP but failed totally to achieve anything.
He said the entire development budget proposed for next fiscal is loan-dependent and the revenue budget also faces deficit, which will met by loan.
The Jamaat chief said it would be big a challenge for the government to attain its target of 6.7 per cent GDP in absence of investment-friendly environment as well as serious crisis of gas and electricity, lack of good governance and deteriorating law and order situation.
He criticized the proposals made in the budget for different sectors but supported the proposed steps regarding social safety net to increase income and improve lifestyle for the poor, hapless and backward population.
In this regard, Nizami said the ceiling for individual income tax should be increased to at least Tk 300,000.
He appreciated the importance given by the government on human resource development but said this cannot achieved keeping unrest in educational institutions.
Jamaat leader Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid, M Quamaruzzman and Delwar Hossain Saidee were present at the briefing.

   BDR mutiny: Special Court-5 to resume today
UNB, Dhaka

The special court-5 will resume today (Sunday) morning at Darbar Hall of Pilkhana, the BDR headquarters, to frame charges against 668 BDR rebels from the 24 Rifles Battalion
under Dhaka Sector in the BDR mutiny case.
Earlier on April 1, the same court was adjourned till 10:00 am on June 20, asking the Prosecutor and Commanding officer of 24 Rifle Battalion Lt Col Shamsur Rahman to present all of the accused before the court by 10:00 am today (Sunday).
Newly appointed BDR Director General Maj Gen Md Rafiqul Islam, who joined Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) as its new Director General on May 9, will preside over the 3-member Special Court-5.
Two other members of the court will be Lt Col. Golam Rabbani and Major Syed Hossain Tapas. The Attorney General's representative, Deputy AG Mohammad Suhrawardy will provide legal assistance to the special court.
The rebels staged the mutiny at the BDR Pilkhana headquarters on February 25-26 last year that killed at least 73 people, including 57 army officers deputed to the border force.

Editorial

Outbreak of Malaria

According to an agency report, deadly malaria has broken out in the five upazilas of the hill district of Bandarban affecting at least 600 people in the last couple of weeks and claiming two lives. The upazila hospitals have already been filled with malaria patients. Shortage of doctors as well as bed crisis loomed large at the upazila level forcing the patients to rush to district headquarters. Local people said new patients from Lama, Roangchhari, Naikhanchhari, Ali Kadam upazilas are coming everyday to the government hospitals in a large number. Many patients are sleeping on the floor of the hospital due to bed crisis. Lama Upazila Health Officer said the outbreak was under control when people were given pesticide soaked mosquito net. But for the last few months they are not getting such mosquito nets, he said adding that treatment is also being hampered due to shortage of medicine.
This is an alarming report that malaria has broken out in Bandarban. There are reports of sporadic malaria attacks in other parts of the country also. There was a time when malaria was a deadly killer disease in many parts of the world. Many villages and localities were reportedly wiped out due to large scale deaths caused by malaria in those days in this land as well as other areas of the subcontinent. However, in the subsequent days consequent upon massive preventive measures and modern scientific medical treatment the scourge was largely checked. But unfortunately, the disease could not be eradicated totally and it has staged a comeback with fury.
In India also malaria has returned causing an alarm. According to media reports, after heading for eradication in the 1950s and 1960s, malaria has had a resurgence in India. Now a study suggests that the most dangerous form of the disease could be at levels much higher than previously estimated. In 1953 some 75 million malaria cases and eight lakh deaths were estimated to be occurring in India which then had a population of about 360 million. With the eradication programme in full swing, incidence of the disease dropped rapidly. By 1965-66, there were just one lakh cases and deaths were completely eliminated.
But malaria, instead of being wiped out from the India, made a comeback. Obstacles such as insecticide resistance, changes in mosquito behaviour, drug resistance in the malarial parasites and lack of adequate resources to fight the disease characterised the return of malaria in India. Worldwide, it is among the leading causes of death from a single infectious agent, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).Deaths due to malaria too were likely to be higher than reported. In its World Malaria Report 2008, the WHO estimated that there had been 10.6 million cases of malaria and 15,000 deaths from the disease in India during 2006.
The situation may not be such alarming in our country as in India. But who can rule out the fear of the disease taking serious form in our country also, specially because of the fact that preventive measures here are not strong enough and the treatment facilities are also poor. In view of this, the health ministry should take special steps to deal with the malaria situation to ensure proper treatment for the patients and check the spread of the disease. It has to be kept in mind that estimating the true disease burden of malaria in the country is a challenge, considering its varied epidemiology and dynamics of transmission. Many cases may remain out of the notice of the authorities. So, a true picture of malaria must be obtained for effective steps against it. In short, no stone should be left unturned to prevent malaria from appearing again as a dangerous killer disease.

 Stopping faulty building construction

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 at a roundtable discussion in the city. 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.
It goes without saying that the buildings become risky because of faulty construction made in violation of the building code. It is unfortunate that this city has grown up in a most unplanned and haphazard way. Even after the Dhaka Improvement Trust (DIT) was formed during Pakistan period and it was transformed into RAJUK after independence, urbanisation did not take place in a well-planned way. No where in the world perhaps commercial and business establishments are allowed to grow indiscriminately in the residential areas. But this is witnessed in Dhaka. In the old city and also in Dhanmandi, Gulshan and Banani not only schools, colleges, universities, shopping malls, hotels, restaurants, but also shops and godowns are allowed to be set up in residential districts although this is prohibited under law. And the least is said about construction of buildings violating the RAJUK approved plan and the building code, the best. Because a section of corrupt officials of RAJUK allegedly connive with building owners in construction of those violating approved design and building code.
It is encouraging that the government has at last decided to demolish illegal high-rises in the capital which are in danger of tumbling. But this step alone is not enough to meet the need of the hour. Action should also be taken against the buildings constructed without approval and in violation of building code. Besides, measures should also be taken to prevent construction of buildings violating laws.

Analysis

Silence of the lambs

How much betrayal will the people tolerate while allowing themselves to be treated like lambs?

 Nawab Mumtaz Ali Bhutto

What became of the promises of roti, kapra aur makan and revenge against the murderers of Benazir Bhutto, grounds on which the PPP received a mandate? How much betrayal will the people tolerate while allowing themselves to be treated like lambs? Of course, they come out and protest, in separate groups, when the festering problems become unbearable, which the government ignores. But there is no organised and united movement as we saw against Ayub Khan, Yahya Khan, Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, or that of the lawyers against Musharraf, even though conditions are much worse now than ever before.
The glaring difference between those uprisings and the scattered demonstrations these days is lack of leadership and the non-involvement of political parties in the protests of the people.
The smothering factor is the curse of reconciliation which has done no good to the country and is visibly another term for widespread corruption and chaos. Why complain?
Join the feast of government and load up to your heart's content with total impunity, is the essence of politics and governance today.
Reconciliation has given us democracy based on one-party rule, in which absolute opposites have combined to let the government run amok while they get their pound of flesh.
Transparency International has disclosed that while in 2004, 45 billion rupees were lost in corruption, in 2009 the figure went up to 195 billion rupees, and now it is a whopping 245 billion rupees only until the middle of the year, while the doors of all anti-corruption and accountability institutions remain jammed shut. No surprise at this, when we have a president who is under trial in multiple corruption cases which, as always, he refuses to face and is surrounded by his jail mate criminals, ministers and advisors who, like him, were absconders in a variety of corruption cases and have been salvaged by the American-sponsored deal.
The NRO-produced setup continues while the restored cases are either not being faced or are being dismissed for want of prosecution.
The net result is bad governance and loot and plunder with a vengeance, not only of public funds, but also any other source that can be accessed.
Since all anti-corruption institutions have either lost their teeth or are themselves drowned in corruption, the only remaining hope are the courts.
But these also seem to have exhausted their punches and are reduced to the last blow under Article 190 of the Constitution which will bring in the armed forces. The better solution, then, would be for the people to shed their somnambulism and take charge.
Change of government has become a desperate need, but Zardari will not quit.
Right from the start he has had to swallow one indignity after another: He transferred the ISI to civilian control but had to hastily return it the next day.
He restored the judges in panic at 2 a.m. in the face of the long march after having broken his promise to do so four times. Similarly, he had to withdraw the emergency and governor's rule in Punjab which he had imposed some days earlier. The National Security Authority was suddenly taken away from him and given to the prime minister reportedly because Zardari could not be trusted in such a sensitive position. He finally caved in on the issue of giving extensions and appointment of new judges to the Supreme Court after adopting a stubborn negative position.
Most important of all, he had to do after two years of resistance what he should have done within fifteen days of the PPP government's coming into power, and that is to pass the 18th Amendment and do away with the harmful contents of the 17th Amendment.
Of course, the 18th Amendment is a trick amendment and lacks honesty: what has been taken away with one hand--i.e., presidential powers--has been sneakily given back with the other--i.e., dictatorship for life for the party chairman, with powers to sack the prime ministers and members of the assemblies.
So far so good for the conciliators, but the people are in agony and angry. They can no longer be manipulated by fake jobs and charity under the Benazir Income Support Scheme. (It is reported that out of the Rs70 billion provided for this purpose in the previous budget, only Rs17 billion reached the people while the rest disappeared into bottomless pockets.)
How much more pain can the people endure and when will the nation rise and express its will?
The political parties and leadership have let the people down. Nothing short of a genuine revolution will suffice now to uproot the deep moral degeneration that has taken hold at all levels of our society.
There is urgent need to change the mindset of the people. So now sights have to be focused on the lessons of history. When life becomes unbearable and a movement is born, new leadership emerges from within the revolution.
Who had heard of Robespierre and Danton before the French Revolution, Lenin before the Russian Revolution, Mao before the Chinese Revolution or Castro before the Cuban Revolution?
The people must not look outwards for guidance but search for leadership within their own ranks. In a country of more than 170 million people clamouring for redemption, it should not be hard to find.


The writer is chairman, Sindh
National Front

  The ‘Great Game’ resumes

The trouble with the role we have chosen to play in Afghanistan is its inherently contradictory nature. An interested party cannot play the role of an honest broker.

Zafar Hilaly

Hamid Karzai has finally decided to break with the Northern Alliance partners and return to his Pashtun roots for deliverance from the Taliban and the Americans. This, one feels, is the reason behind his brusque sacking of his national intelligence chief and his interior minister, both belonging to the Northern Alliance.
Pakistan's response was immediate, namely, to begin brokering deals between those elements of the Taliban who are friendly to us and the government in Kabul. Our sole condition for engaging in this thankless task - of which we claim we are past masters, although our record suggests otherwise - is the elimination of Indian influence. Any enemy of India, however antediluvian, cruel or vicious, is our friend and vice versa. That is the way it has been and that is how it will stay until India and Pakistan manage to inject a degree of sanity into the hatred their respective establishments harbour for each other.
At the moment our Taliban ally is the father and son team of the Haqqanis. In an earlier period it was Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. Whether we will succeed will depend, not so much on retaining Karzai's support as much as obtaining that of the Americans who, in the final analysis, call the shots in Kabul.
Hence, it is inconceivable that our effort should have been undertaken without some encouragement from the US, if not an actual 'go' signal from Washington.
It is also inconceivable that the Haqqanis and Pakistan did not independently get clearances from Mullah Omar. Without Omar on board, no deal that may emerge is sustainable.
So, once again, the Great Game has begun, or rather, the decades old 'time out' has ended. Needless to say, the Northern Alliance, India and Iran will not remain idle, and neither will Russia.
The defunct KGB, avowedly Putin's first love, had long wanted to recover lost Soviet territories in spirit, if not
in fact.
And with the Americans preoccupied up to their gills in Afghanistan and Iraq, Russia has indeed made a remarkable comeback, so much so that Russian influence in the Central Asian Republics has never been more pronounced than today. Russia is often the arbiter in their incessant squabbling and even on domestic issues Russian support can often decide the outcome. Hence, with its clout in Central Asia restored, Russia can afford to return to participate in the Great Game.
Nor will India, like British India, let all the blood and treasure it has expended in Afghanistan go waste. A predicament in which Delhi would not have found itself had it resisted its instinct to step in and take advantage of any situation that can add to Pakistan's discomfiture. As India manoeuvres to maintain its stake in Afghanistan's future, its relations with Pakistan will commensurately worsen.
It is strange how puny players can alter the course of events by inveigling mighty ones to step in where angels fear to tread. In any case, India hardly needs any prodding. New Delhi is perpetually consumed by one idea and it is, invariably, the wrong one when it comes to Pakistan. That is not to say that our fixation with India is any less unhealthy.
Iran, of course, has kept all its options open. With the Taliban whom it is accused of occasionally arming; with al Qaeda whom it is accused of giving refuge to and as often denies; with Pakistan; with India; with Russia and, of course, with the Northern Alliance of which, at all times, it has remained the patron. Iran has one goal: discomfiture of the US, which the US reciprocates in spades.
As for the Americans, to them the intricacies of the Great Game are novel. Very shortly they will not understand what is going on in Afghanistan. To them it will be the "unspellables killing the unpronounceables". Their goals are power, predominance, crush rivals, and subdue nature.
They are eager, restless, and positive because they are superficial. They have their heart set on the means and seldom think of the end. Secretly they prefer a clear defeat to a messy stalemate because they know that they will not know how to deal with the latter. Iraq is a shining example.
The trouble with the role we have chosen to play in Afghanistan is its inherently contradictory nature. An interested party cannot play the role of an honest broker. The conflict of interest is too glaring. Moreover, the deeper we find ourselves enmeshed in the Afghan snake pit, the more likely we are to come off the worse for all our good intentions. That happened after the Soviet withdrawal. So much so that eventually the Taliban, whom we helped fund, train and lead, ended up telling us to stop interfering. Colonel Imam, for all the help that he rendered the Taliban, is now languishing in some grotto while his erstwhile pupils determine his fate.
What then is the alternative for Pakistan? Actually, a fairly simple one and, in the words of Benazir Bhutto: "To let the dust settle in Afghanistan where it will."
In other words, to let the Americans stew in their own mess till eventually they are driven out by American public opinion aided by murderous Taliban attacks.
And, meanwhile, to cleanse our lands of the presence of those who use our territory to wage war on the US, India or anyone else. And, if this means that we will have to take on Haqqani and his ilk then to do so, because such is the contagion that they have spread stretching from the furthermost edge of FATA to Karachi, which eventually, as surely as night follows day, we will have to confront or else succumb.
Currying support from murderous villains who pose as our well-wishers is delusory. It is a sign of weakness and not strength and casts doubt on our commitment to democracy and progressive Islam.
Pakistan must look to itself and not others for its security and well-being. The responsibility begins and ends with us.
Befriending the likes of the Taliban and indulging their abhorrent mindset suggests that we have a low opinion of ourselves. Importuning the Americans does the same. And that is an impression that no self-respecting nation can afford.


The writer is a former ambassador of Pakistan. He can be reached at charles123it@hotmail.com

Viewpoints

Hark the Turkish drumbeat

Rising middle powers such as Turkey and Iran in the Middle East and Brazil in South America now challenge the diplomatic supremacy of America.

Dilip Hiro

Long, unfinished wars in Iraq and Afghanistan - coupled with the global recession triggered by Wall Street excesses - are widely seen as symptoms of the relative decline in US economic and military clout.
Rising middle powers such as Turkey and Iran in the Middle East ?and Brazil in South America now challenge the diplomatic supremacy of America.
This week, the new contours of diplomatic power were on display in Istanbul. The city was the site of the summit of 20-member Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building in Asia, presided over by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. It also provided a venue for the first Turkish-Arab Cooperation Forum, chaired by Turkey. A member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation - and until recently a rare regional ally of Israel - Turkey basked in the international limelight. An emboldened Turkey also defied Washington, voting against the US-sponsored resolution on Iran sanctions at the UN Security Council.
A radically changed domestic political configuration and an altered external environment have spurred Turkey, the largest Muslim nation bordering Europe, to a leading role.
In mid-May, along with his Brazilian counterpart, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu signed a deal with? the Iranian foreign minister, undercutting US efforts to isolate Iran for refusing to abandon its uranium-enrichment programme. Iran agreed to ship 1,200 kilo of its low-enriched uranium to ?its new friend Turkey rather than Russia as proposed by the European Union.
A fortnight later, Turkey found itself at center-stage when Israel's elite naval force attacked a flotilla, sponsored by a Turkish human rights organisation, on its way to blockaded Gaza with civilian supplies. That assault, codenamed Operation Sea Winds, left nine Turks dead and killed the two-decades-old special relationship between Turkey and Israel. These incidents, far from being stray, are an integral part of a process which began with a peaceful political earthquake - the November 2002 victory of the Justice and Development Party, Adalet ve Kalkýnma Partisi or AKP, a reformist party with Islamic origins, ending a half century of opportunistic coalition governments in Turkey.Along with a sweeping anti-corruption drive by the AKP government, led by Erdogan, was an overarching review foreign policy.
To fully realise its power and influence, argued Davutoglu, then political science professor and Erdogan advisor, Turkey must utilise the strategic depth of its neighbourhood, focusing first on those with whom it has cultural affinity. This led Erdogan's administration to forge cordial links with Iran and Syria. The government mediated between Syria and Israel to resolve the issue of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights - without much success due to change of governments in Israel. After re-election in July 2007, the Erdogan government proceeded to reconcile with historic foes, Armenia and Greece.
As a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, Turkey worked closely with Brazil to construct a deal on the long-running issue of Tehran's nuclear programme that restored core elements of the October 2009 agreement that unravelled after Iran changed its mind.
To Turkey's disappointment, the Obama administration backtracked, insisting on a prior suspension of enrichment, reverting back to its predecessor's stance, which was unacceptable to Tehran.
In pursuit of its adopted doctrine of cultural affinity, Turkey hosted the 57-member Islamic Conference Organisation summit in June 2004. Backed by Saudi Arabia and Iran, its nominee was appointed ICO secretary-general.
Around that time, relations with Israel began to cool. In March 2004, Erdogan condemned Israel's assassination of Hamas leader Shaikh Ahmad Yassin in Gaza as an act of state terrorism.
Turkey's diplomatic recognition of Israel can be traced to its application for NATO membership. Recognising Israel was a US precondition; Turkey did so and became NATO's sole Muslim member in 1952. That did not inhibit the Turkish government from recognising the Palestine Liberation Organisation in 1986.
Following the Israeli-Palestinian Oslo Accord of 1993, the special relationship between Turkey and Israel blossomed. In 1997 the two countries signed a free-trade agreement. Military cooperation increased to the extent that the two states conducted annual joint armed-forces exercises. Ankara allowed Israel to set up a clandestine listening post near its border with Iran.
In the wake of Israel's Operation Sea Winds, Ankara cancelled the upcoming joint military exercise with the Israeli Defense Forces. While both sides will honour current defence contracts, there's no prospect of further military deals between the two countries.
The boycott of the popularly elected Hamas government in the Palestinian territories in 2006, followed by the three-week long Israeli attack on Gaza in December 2008-January 2009, strained Israeli-Turkish relations to a breaking point. "When it comes to killing, you know well how to kill," Erdogan shouted at Israeli President Shimon Peres as the January 2009 World Economic Forum.
Fatigue has set in among Ankara's policymakers in another diplomatic field. While they have not withdrawn their application for full membership in the European Union, under consideration since 1999, they are less keen for club acceptance.


Dilip Hiro is the author of "Inside Central Asia," published by Overlook Duckworth Press, New York and London © Yale Center for the Study of Globalization.

  Israel’s propaganda war

Israel’s success in establishing its own narrative in the public sphere as the dominant one is in no small measure due to the excellence of the Jewish community in the media field.
 
FR. Raymond G. Helmick & Dr. Nazir Khaja

Israel's ability to shape public opinion regarding the flotilla massacre is intimately linked to its long-standing campaign to manipulate global public perceptions of what has been happening in Palestine all along since Israel's birth in 1947.
Its policy remains consistent. It is a successful strategy always focusing on Jewish victimhood. The success is rooted in a political reality. Where knowledge is limited, and the desire and means to learn and understand the complex reality or issues doesn't exist, public opinion can be manipulated and shaped by whoever generates the most powerful symbols. The precise truth or falsehood of this portrayal hardly matters. For most of the world thus far, the Palestine issue is poorly understood and not a matter of immediate concern. The manipulators intend to shape the perceptions of a global public with limited interest in or understanding of the issues, filling in the blanks with their own narrative. Their use of the media is a powerful political weapon designed to define perceptions. Using an amalgam of incidents and images to display, a propaganda war is being waged to create sympathy.
The moral question has been made ambiguous.
What seems to matter is the ability to identify the victim as victimizer through obfuscation and confusion thus helping form global opinion that would lead members of the international community to adopt political stances advantageous to the opinion managers.
Israel's success in establishing its own narrative in the public sphere as the dominant one is in no small measure due to the excellence of the Jewish community in the media field. Moving stories made into movies like the "Exodus" and many others are poignant accounts of Jewish suffering. It is equally important to recognize the Palestinian/Arab inability to offer their own narrative in a coherent constructive way
Times have changed. Because of plethora of technologies now there are opportunities for many to present alternative ideas and counternarratives and be heard across this planet... The ground seems to be shifting.
The flotilla incidence has gotten the State of Israel in a pickle. Though all its faithful propagandists are out in public arguing that there was nothing wrong with the raid on the ships carrying aid to Gaza, and the American media are straining every which way and even very much against their better instincts, to cooperate, they are not succeeding in making a dent in the public perception. There remains in the minds of most people across the globe the perception that things truly shocking and fundamentally unacceptable took place out there on the high seas.
Eyewitness accounts have begun to come back from those arrested on the ships. With all clarity it is apparent that the Israeli forces did their best to pre-empt the account of the story, giving thereby prima facie evidence of careful planning for exactly what happened. They took care to cut off all communication from those ships at sea except their own. All cameras, electronic devices that could hold any pictures or video were confiscated and have not been returned. That was an accomplishment, as practically everyone on board had cameras and recording devices. It was only by hiding away a few of those tiny memory cards that passengers were able to retain any of the horrifying pictures and video that are now beginning to emerge. Even now, few people have seen those other than on Internet postings. Our America media are not publishing them.
Passengers were kept incommunicado for the period of the first few days during which these events could be expected to hold the attention of the news cycle. They were all initially detained at Ashdod, but quickly transferred to a special prison that had been prepared for them in advance near Beersheba, far from anywhere that outside reporters had accesses to.
Several journalists, now finally beginning to talk, were on the ship, and the Israelis' first action was to put a gun to the head of the lead Turkish organizer of reporting, and kill him instantly. He was one of the five killed by shots to the head at point blank range. The one 19-year-old Turk among the killed, Furkan Dogan, who happened to have joint American citizenship, was shot five times at a range of less than 45 centimeters, once in the face, once in the back of the head, twice in the leg and once in the back. The main Internet man in the media room was also shot in the head. The Turkish forensic people who were able to examine the bodies of the dead once they were finally returned report that some had been shot as many as thirty times.
All the passengers were thrown into terrified panic as these events so suddenly unfolded. None had expected that the effort to prevent their getting to Gaza would be so savage and violent. Even the resistance put up by a few passengers as the first Israeli paratroopers arrived on deck was sporadic and unplanned. The descending soldiers were disarmed. The guns taken from them were not discharged but were thrown into the sea. The Israelis who had been overpowered - they had evidently expected no resistance - were promptly given medical attention by a Turkish doctor on board, Dr. Hasan Huseyin Uysal, and were turned over to the Israelis at once as more arrived from the boats. Wounded defenders were dragged by the Israelis below decks out of sight. Medical attention was denied to them for a matter of hours and several of the deaths resulted from this wanton refusal of treatment.
The terrified passengers were then confined on land in crowded facilities, refused access to toilets, many of them beaten and abused. It was demanded of them all that they sign confessions for entering Israel illegally, but they refused on the basis that they had had no intention of entering Israel but had been trying to enter supposedly independent Gaza. They saw themselves as kidnapped or abducted at sea and brought to Israel against their will. Holding them proved such an embarrassment to the Israelis that after a few days the Turks were allowed to land planes that took them out of the country.
More details of Israeli excesses are emerging and will continue. But the question is what is happening subsequently. Zeev Sternhell's editorial in the Haaretz newspaper, titled "Time to pay the bill," sees it as an unprecedented crisis, "the last link in a long chain of failures and acts of folly," which deprives Israel of the standing it has so long held as "a responsible and level-headed power." He cites acts of restraint by Israel in earlier conflicts, but regards Benjamin Netanyahu, Ehud Barak, Moshe Ya'alon and Avigdor Lieberman as belonging to a different species of politician, one that cannot be relied on, with the consequence that the world - even the United States - will no longer allow Israel to function without supervision and an effective kind of pressure. It can no longer be assumed that any action of Israel is justified by the very fact that Israel has done it. It is not surprising that Ehud Barak, defense minister and therefore responsible for the actions of the Israeli military, has apparently had to cancel a visit to Paris for fear of arrest over this episode.
The UN Security Council has deplored "the acts which led to" all this violence, leaving it a bit up in the air whose violence it was talking about, but the Obama administration has called the whole siege situation in Gaza unsustainable and called, in the words of the UN resolution, for a credible investigation, urging that it be more than an internal investigation of themselves by the Israeli military.
The Israelis, though, blandly announce that they will do just that, an internal investigation that will convince no one who is not already determined to be convinced... Netanyahu government's decision to establish the Tirkel Commission which is supposed to probe the lethal raid on the Gaza Flotilla is a deliberate attempt to appease the international condemnation and outrage over the incidence. The commission is required to function only within the parameters that Netanyahu government has laid out. The commission is specifically and explicitly excluded from calling any soldier or officer to testify. It must place a blind trust in the army's own investigation of its own doings, which is carried on secretly and whose pre-selected results will be presented to the commission. And it is highly unlikely that the commission would hear and seriously consider the eyewitness testimonies of the boat's Turkish, European and American passengers, whom the State of Israel already branded as "terrorists".
And in that context our President Obama, as clearly as he evidently sees all this and anxious as he is to have a proper and credible investigation by others than those who carried out the raid themselves, is now urged to temper any even implicit criticism of Israel over it and recite the Israeli propaganda line, with threats of political consequences if he does not obey. What a fearful new embarrassment for the United States should he do so, how discrediting before the entire world that knows better, how disheartening a real disservice to any good for the Israelis!
Hamas, of course, could make it very easy for Obama to bow this way before Israeli demands, by initiating some vengeful act that would further poison the world's perception of them and their cause, or even some spate of invective or inflammatory rhetoric that would adversely color the situation.
The president hopefully will unequivocally endorse the demand of the international community for an independent inquiry. He should not be blindsided by the propaganda war or internal political pressures.
This should be his moral commitment.


Fr. Raymond G. Helmick, S.J. is instructor in conflict resolution, Department of Theology, Boston College and author of Negotiating Outside the Law: Why Camp David Failed (London, Pluto Press 2004). Dr. Nazir Khaja is a peace activist, chairman of Islamic Information Service, Los Angeles. Nazir.khaja@gmail.com. Both authors have been members of Middle-East Peace delegations with Rev. Jesse Jackson and others on a number of occasions and have met the Palestinian leadership.

  Resolving the stand-off

People feel humiliated and consider sanctions as an international punishment levied by foreign countries against their national pride.

Rizwan Asghar

At last, the United Nations Security Council has imposed a fourth round of sanctions against Iran over its uranium enrichment activities. These sanctions aim at pressurising Tehran to halt its alleged nuclear weapons programme. The resolution followed five months of arduous and frenzied negotiations between the major powers. Twelve countries voted in favour of the resolution, Brazil and Turkey voted against it while Lebanon, where the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah is in the government, abstained.
The UN Security Council has imposed three sets of sanctions on Iran since 2006 in a bid to force the Islamic republic to terminate its uranium enrichment activities. But the nuclear stand-off between Iran and the international community remains unresolved. This new round of sanctions on Iran is also unlikely to achieve the desired objectives. The West accuses Iran of covertly building nuclear weapons, while Tehran maintains that its nuclear programme is intended for peaceful, civilian purposes purposes including the generation of electricity to stave off energy crisis.
The new set of sanctions call for a ban on Iran's purchasing activities related to ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear warheads, its nuclear-related investments and financial activities, and prohibits Iran from buying several categories of heavy weapons such as attack helicopters and missiles. The sanctions also identified specific organisations, companies and individuals to be targeted by these actions.
Will this move persuade Iran to abandon its nuclear ambitions and play ball with the western powers?
The answer is 'no'. Iran has dismissed the resolution, calling it a 'scrap of paper that should be thrown in dustbin'. The big powers need to realise that in today's world, economic sanctions, as an instrument of foreign policy, have failed to achieve political objectives. The imposition of sanctions is premised on the argument that they will intensify the element of hatred among the suppressed masses of the target country against their autocratic, non-compliant regime. But ironically, instead of invoking rebellion, they tend to create a psychological climate among the masses that is truly national in character.
People feel humiliated and consider sanctions as an international punishment levied by foreign countries against their national pride. The rulers of the target country often manipulate the sanctions, using them in their favour to strengthen their regime.
The Security Council resolution has also rendered redundant the Iranian offer to send 1.2 tonnes of low-enriched uranium (LEU) to Turkey to be reprocessed as reactor fuel which is used for medical purposes. The deal was brokered by Turkey and Brazil but the western powers rejected the bargain as a ploy to buy time.
Sanctions must engage the target, not just enrage it. Coercive diplomacy cannot produce sustainable agreements or resolve the inconsistencies between Iran's security perceptions and those of the international community. Iran pursues the acquisition of nuclear weapons as it feels insecure because of Israel's aggressiveness in the Middle East. While Israel's recent attack on the Freedom Flotilla on high seas has reinforced Iran's threat perceptions on the one hand, the US' reaction, on the other, has laid bare the double standards of major powers. It does not take rocket science to understand that stability cannot return to the Middle East unless the countries of the region feel secure and decide to get rid of mutual suspicions and antagonism.
The US needs to engage Iran in comprehensive security talks in hopes of striking a grand bargain. The change it seeks in Iran can only be brought about through a disciplined dialogue and determined diplomacy. Determined diplomacy may be more difficult and complex than sanctions, but it surely has a better chance of succeeding.


The writer is a freelance contributor.

International

Kashmir : Many feel the peace process has given them hope

AFP, Srinagar, India

Tears flowed as thousands of Hindus who fled a Muslim insurgency in Indian Kashmir Saturday prayed at a revered shrine many had not visited for decades, as troops kept a tight vigil.
An estimated 200,000 Hindus fled the Muslim-dominated Kashmir Valley, where the main city Srinagar is located, after the insurgency against Indian rule erupted in 1989.
They re-settled in the Hindu-dominated southern part of the state, Jammu, and other parts of India.
But some are now trickling back as violence has sharply declined in the scenic Himalayan region since India and Pakistan started a peace process in 2004.
The two nuclear-armed rivals hold the region in part but claim it in full.
With flower petals in their hands, devotees gathered at the Kheer Bhawani temple in Tulmulla, 30 kilometres (20 miles) northeast of Srinagar, for the annual festival.
"This is the first time I am here. Everything looks so refreshing," said Ravi Koul, 24. Koul said he was only four when his family fled in the dark of night from a Srinagar suburb.
"All these years I have been longing to see my birthplace," he said.
The devotees hugged and kissed each other and many wept as their Muslim friends and neighbours came to meet them amid tight security at the temple.
As violence continues to drop, authorities have reopened more than a dozen Hindu temples across the valley and are trying to entice the small community to return permanently.
Before the eruption of the insurgency, Kashmiri Hindus, popularly known as Pandits, had lived in harmony with their Muslim neighbours for centuries.
Many feel the peace process has given them hope."Things seem to be normal here. I will surely return to my village for rest of my life," said Omkar Nath, a 73-year-old farmer.
Nath said he left his native village in southern Anantnag district after some Hindus were killed in Srinagar.
"We have gone through hell. I will return to my village and do what I do best-farming," he said.Officials say 219 Hindus were killed by suspected militants in different attacks in the Kashmir valley since 1990. Some 3,500 Hindus continue to live in the valley.
Muslim Kashmiri separatist politicians have urged Kashmiri Hindus to return.Last year, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said refugees who wanted to return to their homes would be given 750,000 rupees (16,304 dollars) per family.

   Suu Kyi spends 65th birthday under house arrest
AFP, Yangon

Myanmar democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi marked her 65th birthday under house arrest Saturday as activists held protests around the globe and world leaders called for the junta to free her.
The military regime has kept the Nobel laureate in detention for almost 15 years and she has been barred from running in upcoming elections that critics have denounced as a sham aimed at entrenching the generals' power. Suu Kyi's party won the last polls in 1990 but was never allowed to take office. A UN working group this week pronounced her detention a breach of international human rights law, prompting new calls for her release.
In a birthday message, US President Barack Obama hailed Suu Kyi's "determination, courage, and personal sacrifice in working for human rights and democratic change".
"I once again call on the Burmese government to release Aung San Suu Kyi and all political prisoners immediately and unconditionally and to allow them to build a more stable, prosperous Burma that respects the rights of all its citizens," he said, using the country's former name.
The woman known in Myanmar simply as "The Lady" remains the most powerful symbol of freedom in a country where the army rules with an iron fist.
About 400 of her supporters held a party at one of their houses in northern Yangon in her absence. Plain-clothes police outside photographed and filmed people attending the event.
Suu Kyi's supporters, some of whom wore T-shirts bearing her image, freed caged birds, prayed in front of her portrait and cut a birthday cake.
"The most important thing is the release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi," said her lawyer Nyan Win. "Although she is in detention, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's spirit has not been diminished at all."
NLD members are planting about 20,000 saplings around Myanmar to mark her birthday and sent spicy food to her home to share with workers doing renovations.
Events to mark her birthday are scheduled in cities around the world, ranging from candlelight vigils in Tokyo and Auckland to a solidarity rally in Washington.
In Prague, human right activists wrote messages for the democracy icon on a graffiti wall decorated with her portrait.
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak called for "national reconciliation" in Myanmar, while elsewhere in Kuala Lumpur about 100 exiles sang patriotic songs and cut a cake.

  Osama and Mullah Umar hiding near Pak-Afghan belt : Halbrooke

Dawn Online

US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke said on Saturday that Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar were hiding somewhere along the Pak-Afghan border.
Holbrooke was talking to media representatives after talks with Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi.
Holbrooke arrived on Friday evening for talks with Pakistani leaders and to review progress on intensifying cooperation between the allies.
Holbrooke added: "People all over the world should be more aware of the sacrifices Pakistani people and the army have made in pushing back militants in Swat, South Waziristan and other northwestern regions."
He said that the US did not only increase aid to Pakistan's military but also extended its support to other sectors as well.
Holbrooke claimed that the Obama administration was well aware of Pakistan's energy demands and the issue was a top priority for the US.
In July I'm expecting Secretary Clinton to visit Islamabad for a second session of the strategic dialogue," Qureshi told the joint news conference.

  US drone strike kills 11 in Pakistan: Officials
AFP, Miranshah, Pakistan

A US drone attack destroyed an Al-Qaeda hideout in Pakistan's North Waziristan, killing 11 militants Saturday in the tribal redoubt on the Afghan border, security officials said.
The aircraft fired two missiles into the compound in Inzarabad village, 25 kilometres (15 miles) east of Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan, known as a hub of Taliban and Al-Qaeda linked militants.
"Eleven militants were killed and three wounded in a US drone strike," a senior Pakistani security official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Neither the nationalities of the militants nor whether they included any high-value targets was immediately clear, but the official described "most of them as foreigners"-a term used in Pakistan to denote Al-Qaeda.
The same official had initially put the death toll at three.
Other security officials confirmed the strike and casualties, saying that the compound had been used by "Al-Qaeda operatives".
US forces have been waging a covert drone war against Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked commanders in Pakistan's northwest tribal belt, where militants have carved out havens in mountains outside direct government control.
It was the first US drone attack reported since twin strikes 12 hours apart killed 14 militants east of Miranshah on June 11.
The US military does not, as a rule, confirm drone attacks, but its armed forces and the Central Intelligence Agency operating in Afghanistan are the only forces that deploy pilotless drones in the region.
More than 900 people have been killed in over 100 drone strikes in Pakistan since August 2008.On June 1, Al-Qaeda said its number three leader and Osama bin Laden's one-time treasurer Mustafa Abu al-Yazid had been killed, in what security officials said was an apparent drone strike in North Waziristan.
Washington has branded Pakistan's northwestern tribal area a global headquarters of Al-Qaeda and officials say it is home to Islamist extremists who plan attacks on US-led troops in Afghanistan and on cities abroad.
Waziristan came under renewed scrutiny when Faisal Shahzad, the Pakistani-American charged over an attempted bombing in New York on May 1, allegedly told US interrogators he went there for bomb training.

  Hillary Clinton to visit Pakistan in July
AFP, Islamabad

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will visit Pakistan in July, her counterpart in Islamabad said Saturday.
"In July I'm expecting Secretary Clinton to visit Islamabad for a second session of the strategic dialogue," Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi told a joint news conference with US envoy Richard Holbrooke. Holbrooke arrived on Friday evening for talks with Pakistani leaders and to review progress on intensifying co-operation between the allies.
Holbrooke added: "People all over the world should be more aware of the sacrifices Pakistani people and the army have made in pushing back militants in Swat, South Waziristan and other northwestern regions. "We have a common enemy, we have a common threat," Holbrooke said, adding that this was a long struggle and that much more needed to be planned and done.
Holbrooke's visit coincided with a fresh US drone attack on Saturday which destroyed an Al-Qaeda hideout in Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal region and killed 11 militants.
Washington has pressed Islamabad to crack down on Taliban and Al-Qaeda strongholds inside its territory especially the tribal regions, branded as the most dangerous place on the earth. Pakistan launched the military operation in the districts of Buner, Lower Dir and Swat last April against Taliban insurgents in defiance of a peace deal and claimed successes.
But skirmishes continue, raising fears that the Taliban are regrouping in the mountains, a tactic militants adopted after offensives in the past.
Pakistan also sent nearly 30,000 troops into action against an estimated 10,000 Taliban fighters in South Waziristan last October to crush Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) there.
Referring to Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and fugitive Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, Holbrooke said that they were hiding somewhere close to Afghan-Pakistan border.
"Many of their associates have been killed but they are still at large," he said, adding that, "Al-Qaeda has been severely degraded in recent years but this is a problem and we have to deal with it."
Bin Laden and his Al-Qaeda network have been blamed by the US administration for the September 11, 2001 attacks on the US, but Bin Laden has so far avoided capture despite Washington's offer of a reward of up to 25 million dollars.

  Karzai visits Hiroshima to pray for atomic bomb victims
AFP, Tokyo

Afghan President Hamid Karzai made his first visit to Hiroshima on Saturday ahead of the 65th anniversary of the US atomic bombing of the western Japanese city in World War II.
Donning his traditional ethnic costume, Karzai laid a wreath at the cenotaph for the atomic bomb victims and in Peace Memorial Park, local media reported.
After inspecting the ground zero areas, he said he learned from Hiroshima that acts of atrocity must not be repeated, the Kyodo News agency reported.
As he heard from an atomic bomb survivor about his experience, Karzai also said that the use of atomic bombs cannot be justified under any circumstance, Kyodo said.
In Hiroshima, more than 140,000 people were killed instantly or died in the days and weeks after the August 6, 1945 attack.
Three days later, a second atomic bomb was dropped in Nagasaki. Japan surrendered on August 15, ending the war.
Karzai-on his first visit to Tokyo since he started his second term in November after an election widely criticised for vote-rigging-thanked new Prime Minister Naoto Kan on Thursday for Japan's support.
Japan last year pledged up to five billion dollars in aid by 2013 to rebuild the impoverished country, where US-led and then multinational forces have been battling Taliban insurgents since late 2001.

  Malaysia urges Myanmar to seek 'reconciliation'
AFP, Kuala Lumpur

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak Saturday marked the 65th birthday of Myanmar's jailed opposition icon Aung San Suu Kyi by calling on her country's military junta to embrace democracy.
In a rare departure from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations' (ASEAN) policy of non-interference in members' internal affairs, Najib said: "I like to see national reconciliation in Myanmar."
He also said he hoped electoral reforms adopted in Myanmar this year-which have nevertheless led to the dissolution of its main opposition-would involve all political players.
"I hope the democratic road map will entail a solution that is inclusive. That is the hope of ASEAN," Najib told reporters.
Suu Kyi, the world's only Nobel Peace laureate in detention, has been held for 14 of the past 20 years-mostly at her lakeside villa in Yangon-after her National League for Democracy (NLD) won elections in 1990 by a landslide.
This year the NLD was dissolved under rules for forthcoming elections that critics have denounced as a sham and from which Suu Kyi has been excluded.
Asked if he would like to see Suu Kyi freed, Najib said: "I think the (Myanmar) government knows what it needs to do to get the confidence and support of the international community." Elsewhere in the Malaysian capital around 100 Myanmar exiles marked Suu Kyi's birthday with patriotic songs and speeches at a ceremony that ended with the cutting of a birthday cake.
"We feel very sad that Aung San Suu Kyi is being held by the military junta," Kyaw Myo Maung, 27, the event's organiser, told AFP.

  Militants free accomplices from Karachi court
Internet

One policeman was killed in Karachi on Saturday when unknown gunmen opened fire near the City Courts. The gunmen opened fire at a group of policemen who were escorting a number of prisoners to the courts and threw a hang grenade amid the crowd.
One policeman was killed as a result of the attack and four prisoners were able to flee along with the gunmen.Security officials followed one of the gunmen, who fled to nearby Jodia Bazaar and killed himself. One hand grenade was recovered from his possession, while search teams have been sent to other areas to locate the remaining gunmen.
The four escaped prisoners were identified as Murad, Wazir, Miskeen and Murtaza, and were brought to the courts of the judicial magistrate south. Two people were also injured as a result of the attack and have been shifted to Civil Hospital, officials told DawnNews.DIG South Iqbal Mahmood later released the sketches of the escaped accused and the police also managed to seize cell phones and MM pistols of the attackers.
Mehmood said the militants were associated with an outlawed militant organisation, Jundallah.Jundallah is accused of carrying out a number of terrorist attacks in the country including a recent attack on a procession earlier this year in Karachi, killing 76 people. It was reported that the escaped prisoners were speaking on a cell phone before appearing in court.
The Karachi Bar Association urged the CCPO Karachi, the home minister and IG Sindh to tender their resignation and lawyers announced that they would boycott the city courts until proper security measures were put in place.

 Iran slams US, insisting its missiles are defensive
AFP, Tehran

Iran accused the United States of "deception" on Saturday and insisted its missiles are only for self-defence after a top US official charged that the Islamic republic could rain missiles down on Europe.
"The Islamic Republic's missile capability has been designed and implemented to defend against any military aggression and it does not threaten any nation," Defence Minister Ahmad Vahidi said in a statement carried by state media.
He was reacting to remarks by US Defence Secretary Robert Gates on Thursday that US intelligence has shown that Iran could attack Europe with "scores or hundreds" of missiles, prompting major changes to US missile defences.
Washington seeks to "expand its domination over Europe, and to find an excuse not to dismantle its nuclear weapons stationed in the region, while putting the pressure on Russia and surrounding it," Vahidi said.
"The US seeks to create regional discord and impair (Moscow's) regional ties to humiliate Russia and weaken its relations with neighbouring countries," he added, urging Russia not to fall for "US deception and psychological war."
US President Barack Obama in September cited a mounting danger from Iran's arsenal of short- and medium-range missiles when he announced an overhaul of American missile defence plans.
The new programme uses sea- and land-based interceptors to protect NATO allies in the region, instead of mainly larger weapons designed to counter long-range missiles.
Gates said the United States believed "that if Iran were actually to launch a missile attack on Europe... it would more likely be a salvo kind of attack, where you would be dealing potentially with scores or even hundreds of missiles."
Iran is under mounting international pressure over its controversial nuclear programme of uranium enrichment which the West fears masks a covert weapons drive.
The Islamic republic vehemently denies the charge, but has been flexing its military muscle mainly in the strategic Gulf region by staging regular war games and showcasing an array of Iran-manufactured missiles.
The United States and its top regional ally Israel, the sole if undeclared nuclear-armed power in the Middle East, have never ruled out a military strike to curb Iran's atomic drive.
Iran has vowed to deliver a crushing response if it comes under attack.

   UN appeals for Kyrgyzstan aid amid fears of fresh violence
AFP, Osh

The United Nations launched an urgent humanitarian appeal to assist more than one million people affected by ethnic clashes in Kyrgyzstan amid fears Saturday of fresh violence in the volatile south.
A day after Kyrgyzstan's acting leader Roza Otunbayeva admitted that the death toll from the clashes between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbeks was probably 2,000 -- 10 times the official estimate of 192 -- residents of the ravaged southern city of Osh said fears were high of new unrest.
As a senior US envoy prepared to meet with officials from Kyrgyzstan's embattled interim government, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton threw her support behind the Kyrgyz authorities' attempts to restore order and bring in aid.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon said the UN was launching a 71-million-dollar humanitarian appeal for Kyrgyzstan and that a separate appeal for neighbouring Uzbekistan, where tens of thousands have fled from the violence, would be instigated next week.
Ban cited "shortages of food, water and electricity in the affected areas, due to looting, lack of supply, and restrictions on movement" and said hospitals were running low on medical supplies.
John Holmes, the UN emergency relief coordinator, said he was shocked by "the extent of the violence and appalled by the deaths and injuries, widespread arson, sexual violence, looting of state, commercial and private property and destruction of infrastructure" in Kyrgyzstan.
Describing the needs as "very great," Holmes urged all donors and supporters to ensure that the appeal "receives a generous and rapid response."
The UN's World Health Organization said it was working on a worst-case estimate that the crisis could affect up to one million people, including 300,000 people displaced in Kyrgyzstan and 100,000 who have fled to Uzbekistan.
In Osh, residents said they were bracing for new violence after Otunbayeva promised that makeshift barricades around Uzbek neighbourhoods would be removed.

   One dead, two wounded as Iraq police disperse power demo

AFP, Basra

One demonstrator was killed and two wounded Saturday when Iraqi police opened fire to break up a frenzied protest in the southern city of Basra against power rationing, an army commander said.
Thousands had gathered to demand the dismissal of Electricity Minister Karim Wahid and provincial officials over the rationing, which sees residents receive power for just one hour in five in temperatures that hit 54 degrees Celsius (130 Fahrenheit) on Saturday, an AFP correspondent said.
As tempers flared in the scorching heat, young men among the demonstrators started hurling stones at the provincial council offices, smashing nearly every window, the correspondent said.
Police then opened fire on the protesters to disperse them.
"We don't want oil or medicine, we want water and electricity," read one placard brandished by the demonstrators in Iraq's southern oil hub.
"The people of Basra ask the authorities to provide services for citizens," read another.
Demonstrators said they did not believe the government's explanation that years of UN sanctions against now executed dictator Saddam Hussein's regime followed by the US-led invasion of 2003 and its violent aftermath meant there was insufficient generator capacity to provide more power.
"When the minister came to Basra, the electricity was not off all the time, which means there is nothing wrong with the electricity, but there is something wrong with the officials," Muhammed Hassan Jassim, 35, told AFP.
"Everyone in Basra is suffering from the lack of electricity. The minister and the governor of Basra (Shiltagh Abboud) must be tried," he added.

  EU sanctions will not work, Iran tells Germany
AFP, Tehran

The new European Union sanctions against Iran will not deter its efforts to gain nuclear technology, deputy foreign minister has told German officials, state news agency IRNA reported on Saturday.
IRNA said that Ali Ahani warned during a recent meeting in Germany "that the new (EU) decision taken to intensify sanctions... is destructive," coming at a time when Tehran is deciding whether to respond to an EU offer of talks.
It said Ahani emphasised that EU sanctions "will in no way affect the Iranian government and people's determination to seek their legitimate right to exploit nuclear technology under the supervision of the IAEA."
Iran maintains its nuclear programme is peaceful and under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN atomic watchdog. Western powers suspect it is aimed at making weapons.
On June 9 the UN Security Council imposed a fourth set of sanctions on the Islamic republic over its nuclear programme. Soon after the UN move, EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton offered to hold talks with Tehran.
The UN measures were followed on Wednesday by a separate set of restrictions imposed by the United States and a day later by the European Union.
The EU sanctions include a ban on new investment, technical assistance and technology transfers to Tehran's huge gas and oil industry, particularly as regards refining and liquefied natural gas.
They also target the transport, banking and insurance sectors and slap new visa bans and asset freezes on the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
New US sanctions target insurance companies, oil firms and shipping lines linked to Iran's atomic or missile programmes as well as the IRGC and Defence Minister Ahmad Vahidi.

  US, Cuba hold latest round of migration talks
AFP, Washington

US and Cuban officials held their latest round of talks here Friday on migration issues after nearly half a century without diplomatic ties between the long-time foes, the State Department said.
The meeting, which focused on implementation of the US-Cuba Migration Accords, was the third since President Barack Obama's administration decided to resume talks on the issue last year.
The US team, led by Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Craig Kelly, "reaffirmed the US commitment to promote safe, legal and orderly migration," State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said.
The meeting tackled efforts aimed at "ensuring the US interests section in Havana is able to monitor the welfare of repatriated migrants and gaining Cuban government acceptance for the repatriation of Cuban nationals who are subject to removal from the United States on criminal grounds," he added.
The Obama administration last year resumed talks on migration with Cuba that had been conducted every two years until his predecessor George W. Bush suspended them in 2003.
During the latest round of meetings, the Obama administration raised the case of Alan Gross, a US citizen held in Cuba since December 2009, and "called for his immediate release," Crowley said.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said US officials would tell their Cuban counterparts that Cuba's detention of Gross was "harming" ties between the two countries.
US officials say that Gross worked for a non-government organization contracted by the State Department to supply computer and communications equipment to opposition groups on the island.

  Kurd rebels claim deadly attack on Turkish army
AFP, Arbil

The rebel Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) said on Saturday that it carried out a deadly attack on the Turkish army that prompted retaliatory air raids inside Iraqi territory.
"The military operation took place this morning in the Shemdinyan (Semdinli in Turkish) area, in Hakkari province, and Turkish warplanes have started to attack the Khwakorek district inside Iraqi territory," PKK spokesman Ahmed Denis told AFP in the Iraqi Kurdistan regional capital of Arbil.
"We have no information so far about any casualties as the clashes are continuing between the PKK and the Turkish army inside Turkey," Denis added.
The Turkish army said the overnight attack had killed eight soldiers and wounded 14.
Warplanes then launched a bombing raid targeting suspected PKK positions across the border in northern Iraq, the army added.
On Friday, the Turkish military said that at least 130 members of the PKK had been killed inside Turkey and in an air raid on rebel hideouts in Iraq since violence flared anew in March.
The military lost 43 troops over the same period, it added.
On Wednesday, Turkish troops carried out their first ground incursion into Iraq in two and a half years, penetrating two kilometres (more than a mile) into the Haft Tanin district of Dohuk province, one of three that make up the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq.
"Two of our men were killed in the clashes that took place on Wednesday between the Turkish army and members of our party in Haft Tanin," Denis told AFP on Friday.

  Israel warns UN over Lebanon to Gaza aid bid
AFP, Jerusalem

Israel's UN envoy has told the world body that the Jewish state is entitled to use "all necessary force" to prevent activists sailing from Lebanon to Gaza, Israeli media reported on Saturday.
In a letter to Secretary General Ban Ki-moon reported by radio stations and Internet news sites, Ambassador Gabriella Shalev was quoted as saying that Israel suspects that organisers may be linked to Lebanon's Hezbollah.
"Israel reserves its right under international law to use all necessary means to prevent these ships from violating the existing naval blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip," the website of newspaper Haaretz quoted her as writing. "It appears that a small number of ships plan to depart from Lebanon and sail to the Gaza Strip which is under the control of the Hamas terrorist regime," she added.
"While those who organise this action claim that they wish to break the blockade on Gaza and to bring humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza, the true nature of the actions remains dubious." A group of dozens of Lebanese women activists is planning to set sail for Gaza on a ship loaded with medical supplies in a new bid to break Israel's four-year blockade of the Palestinian territory.
Hezbollah on Friday denied it was backing an all-women aid flotilla planning to sail from Lebanon to Gaza, saying that it did not want to give Israel a pretext to attack the activists.
Israel came under international censure over its May 31 seizure of a six-ship aid fleet bound for Gaza, in which nine Turkish activists were shot dead by naval commandos in clashes on the lead boat.
Defence Minister Ehud Barak on Thursday warned Lebanon that it would be responsible for any "violent and dangerous confrontation" with any vessel sailing to Gaza from its shores.
Last year, a Lebanese freighter which tried to deliver aid to Gaza was intercepted by Israeli warships.

  British PM salutes Suu Kyi on 65th birthday
AFP, London

British Prime Minister David Cameron paid tribute to Myanmar democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi on Saturday as she marked her 65th birthday under house arrest.
In an open letter to Suu Kyi, Cameron described the Nobel laureate as "a powerful symbol of the strength of the human spirit" and promised that Britain's coalition government would "do all it can ... to bring a brighter future for Burma (Myanmar)".
In the letter released by Cameron's office, the British leader wrote: "Today you will mark yet another birthday under house arrest-cut off from your children and your family. My thoughts, and thoughts of so many people in Britain and across the world, will be with you and with the people of Burma. "The injustice of your continuing detention mirrors the injustice that the regime has inflicted on your country and your people for so many years. Throughout that time, you have stood firm, at enormous personal cost, for the principles of liberty and justice.

  Part of Blackwater given US contract in Afghanistan
AFP, Washington

The US State Department has awarded part of the controversial private US security firm formerly known as Blackwater a security services contract worth some 120 million dollars for work in Afghanistan, a report said.
The firm US Training Center, an offshoot of Blackwater-now known as Xe Services-was given the contract on Friday, a State Department spokeswoman told the CBS news network.
For the award-calculated to be worth just over 120 million dollars if all 18 months allowed in the contract are filled-the firm will provide "protective security services" at the US consulates in Herat and Mazar-e-Sharif, the spokeswoman said, according to CBS.
The secretive Blackwater was thrown into the spotlight after five of its guards were accused of killing 14 unarmed Iraqis in a gun and grenade attack, and wounding 18 others during a September 2007 incident at the busy Nisur Square in Baghdad.
Earlier this month, Iraq expelled 250 former employees of the security firm.
The North Carolina-based firm lost its contract to provide security for US embassy diplomats in Baghdad in May 2009 after Iraqis and others repeatedly accused it of adopting a cowboy mentality to duties in the country.

Business/Economy

Public listed companies urge tax reduction on FIs income in stock market

UNB, Dhaka

Bangladesh Association of Public Listed Companies (BAPLC) Saturday urged the government to reduce the tax on financial institutions' income in stock market from 10 percent to 5 percent.
It also demanded withdrawal of the proposed 5 percent tax on income of sponsor shareholders or directors of a company listed with any stock exchange and tax at 3 percent on the premium value of shares of companies being sold at a premium value. Placing the demands at a press conference at Sonargao Hotel, BAPLC president Salman F Rahman hoped that the 10 percent tax on financial institutions' income in the stock market would be reduced to 5 percent.
He, however, said that recognizing the need of both raising revenue and limiting some of the speculations seen at the retail level, "we believe the annual levy on BO accounts charged by the NBR may be set at Tk 500."
Salman Rahman said the 2.5 million BO accounts would generate Tk 1.25 billion in the current fiscal. "The broader goal of broadening the tax net to capital gains on share sales can be considered in a future budget." He said that the BAPLC believes that one of the key problems that the stock market is facing today is the imbalance between excess demand in the capital market and insufficient supply of high quality stocks.
"The 3 percent tax on the premium value of shares basically amounts to taxing the equity of the company which is against the basic principles of taxation and such tax is absent in the world."
The BAPLC president recommended withdrawal of the proposed 5 percent tax on income of sponsor shareholders or directors and the 3 percent tax on the premium value of shares. "Given that there is a 3-year lock-in for sponsors in IPOs, we believe they are already refrained from speculative sales," he said.
Salman Rahman further said: "With the revisions to the taxation measures we propose, the BAPLC believes that the growth of our capital markets will be sustained over the medium term, which is critical for the effective financial intermediation of Bangladesh's gross savings surplus to productive investment. "Capital market must continue to play a bigger role in channeling savings to productive investment, and we must refrain from taking any step which could undermine that objective by destabilizing the already volatile market," he added.

 Banks spend Tk 55cr under CSR
BSS, Dhaka

Forty-six scheduled banks out of 48 spent Taka 55 crore for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities last year and the figure is 34 percent higher than Taka 41 crore of 2008.
Health sector got the highest priority with expenditure of Taka 24.5 crore followed by disaster relief Taka 12.5 crore and education Taka 9.5 crore under the CSR activities of the Banks in 2009, Bangladesh Bank (BB) sources said.
Among the banks, Dutch Bangla Bank limited spent maximum amount of nearly Taka 16 crore for CSR, which was followed by Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited with Taka 11.5 crore. In terms of direct monetary expenditure, engagement of banks in CSR initiatives are increasing following issuance of Bangladesh Bank (BB) guidance, BB governor Dr Atiur Rahman told BSS on Saturday. In June 2008, a circular of BB suggested that banks could begin reporting their CSR initiatives in a modest way as supplements to usual annual financial reports.
Under the circulation, the banks and financial institutions were advised to adopt CSR practices in formal, structured manner in line with global norms to help the disadvantaged population segments by social responsibility initiatives, Dr Atiur said.
Though adopting the CSR activities is voluntary, not mandatory, Bangladesh Bank is monitoring CSR adoption and CSR performances of banks and financial institutions as an additional dimension of their management performance.
BB remains open to ideas and suggestions about possible further support and assistance options to the banks in increasing their activities under CSR, which can massively benefit the underprivileged populace of the country, he said.
Foreign banks in Bangladesh having structured CSR programme in line with their home country practices can come forward to usefully mentor the new incipient CSR initiatives of local banks, he observed.
However, the BB review on CSR activities found that against the suggestion in the BB guidance for ingraining environmentally and socially responsible practices only four banks reported having taken in this regards.
These banks reported that they tried to ensure compliance with environmental standards while financing industrial projects through formulating environmental policies in accordance with the guidelines by the BB.

  Call for more facilities to increase insurance coverage
BSS, Dhaka

Commerce Minister Lt Col (retd) Faruk Khan on Saturday urged the authorities of insurance companies to reach rural areas with more facilities to increase the country's insurance coverage as only five percent people are now under the insurance coverage. He described the insurance companies as service-oriented organizations and said they have become the integral part of people's life and can change lifestyle of individuals. The commerce minister was speaking at a conference of BAIRA Life Insurance Company Limited at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre here.
State Minister for LGRD and Cooperatives Jahangir Kabir Nanak spoke as the special guest on the occasion with insurance company chairman Mohammad Bashar in the chair. Vice Chairman of the company MA Sobhan Bhuiyan, Managing Director Elias Hossain, directors and insurance holders from different parts of the country also joined the conference.
Citing examples of Japan and USA, Faruk Khan said Japan's hundred percent people have been brought under insurance coverage while USA has 80 percent coverage but Bangladesh's coverage is still more or less than five percent.
The commerce minister urged authorities of the insurance company to help the government implement the Vision-2021.
Faruk Khan underscored the need for increasing insurance facilities covering all sectors including health and education and adopting modern technology.

  India’s agriculture growth key to food security
AFP, New Delhi

India faces a challenge to ensure food security for its fast-growing population of over one billion people, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Saturday.
"We must endeavour to raise our agricultural growth rate from around two per cent per annum to four per cent," Singh told a convocation ceremony at an agricultural university in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand.
India commands over two per cent of the Earth's land area and about four per cent of its fresh water resources, but feeds about 17 percent of its population, putting tremendous pressure on natural resources.
While the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast normal rains for 2010, the agricultural sector has recorded the lowest growth in five years, at 0.2 per cent due to widespread drought in 2009.
Singh stressed that modern technology had to be used to increase farm yields and called for reforms that will benefit small-scale and marginal farmers.
"Investment in the agricultural sector needs to increase... farmers need to be provided remunerative prices for their produce and better quality seeds and inputs," Singh said.
Over 70 percent of Indians depend on farm incomes and about 65 percent of India's farms depend on rains that fall between June and September.
Singh also said that "there is a widespread feeling that there has not been any really big breakthrough in agricultural technologies since the Green Revolution of the late 1960s," when India began its transformation from a starving nation into a food exporter.

  Canada urges G20 to cut debt
AFP, Ottawa

G20 nations must cut in half their budgetary deficits by 2013 and stabilize debt-to-GDP ratios by 2016, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper urged G20 leaders, an aide said Friday. Harper sent a letter to his Group of 20 counterparts urging them to follow through on promises of stimulus spending to kickstart the global economy, but also to start planning to rein in burgeoning debts that risk scuttling a "fragile and uneven" recovery.
"We should agree that these plans will have deficits by 2013 and stabilize government debt-to-GDP ratios or put them on a downward path by 2016," said the letter. Canada is hosting back-to-back G8 and G20 summits in Huntsville, Ontario and Toronto on June 25 to 27. In his letter, Harper also sought consensus on accelerating financial sector repair and reform, as well as bolstering domestic growth in emerging markets by improving social safety nets, increasing investment in infrastructure and adopting more flexible exchange rates.

  Merkel signals G20 clash with Obama on financial policy
AFP, Berlin

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Saturday spending cutbacks were now needed following the spate of throwing money at the global economic crisis, in a direct counter to US President Barack Obama.
Referring to the G20 summit in Canada next weekend, Merkel said in a videotaped message that "we are going to discuss when to quit the phase of short-term measures and go on to lasting budget consolidation."
Such a move was "urgently necessary, in the view of the Europeans and particularly of Germany," she said.
Obama urged the world's leading economies Friday to avoid scaling back government spending too quickly or risk derailing the global recovery. "We worked exceptionally hard to restore growth; we cannot falter or lose strength now," Obama said in a letter to G20 leaders ahead of a June 26-27 summit in Toronto.
"Our highest priority in Toronto must be to safeguard and strengthen the recovery," Obama said in the letter dated June 16, but released Friday amid concerns about the pace of the global recovery.
The warning-a clear shot at European governments reining in budget deficits-comes after months of worry about the health of the eurozone, fueled by huge public debts in Greece and Spain.

  Russia sees Greek debt ‘restructuring’
AFP, Saint Petersburg

Russia's finance minister Saturday said he expected Greece to require a restructuring of its debt by creditors, days after a junk status downgrade for the country sparked anger in Brussels.
Alexei Kudrin said such a move would be acceptable for the market and insisted it would be wrong to describe the restructuring as a full-scale default by the embattled government in Athens.
"I would allow for a restructuring of Greece's debt, which will be unpleasant," Kudrin told a session of the annual Saint Petersburg economic forum. "You could call it a mini-default but I would not say it is a default in the full sense of the word. It will be something more complicated," he said.
"It will not be a deep restructuring, it will be acceptable for the market," he said, adding that expectations for the restructuring were already priced into the market.
His comments came two days after an EU-IMF team carrying out a health check on Greece's finances said it had found that its reform programme "is on track and that policies are being implemented as agreed."
But ratings agency Moody's earlier this week slashed its assessment of Greek creditworthiness by four notches, from A3 to Ba1, a move described by the European Union's top economic commissioner Olli Rehn as "surprising and highly unfortunate".
French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde did not echo Kudrin's comments, saying that the 110-billion-euro (136-billion-dollar) EU-IMF bailout package for Greece was not dependent on any kind of "haircut" on its debts.

National

Passengers prefer tain journey but point to poor services
UNB, Dhaka

Compared to global standards, the railway service in Bangladesh is very poor and it is even poorer in its eastern zone, although many passengers prefer travelling by train. "We don't mind paying higher fares for train services because we find travelling by train safer than using the road.
The government should pay more attention to the railway sector for making its service more comfortable than journey by bus," said Ferdous Sharif Johnny, a regular train passenger of Kuliuar Char in Kishoreganj. In Bangladesh, he said, using road transport is riskier, but it is safe in train although the ride might be longer than bus. "Modernizing the railway service will not only ensure passengers' comfort but also help the government earn more in revenue," said Sharif to UNB.
While going back home in a Bhairab-bound train from Dhaka, Mujibur, a Bangladeshi expatriate living in Singapore, said: "Most people prefer journey by train. I also prefer the train journey as it is safer than bus."
Sarwar Alam, a National University student living in capital Dhaka, said the number of coaches on trains should be increased as the number of passengers, especially in the eastern zone, has doubled in recent times.
"I always go home by Egara Sindur inter-city train which carries more passengers than its capacity. Most passengers board the train with 'standing tickets' due to shortage of seats," he said. Some passengers alleged that the trains in the Railways' eastern zone take too much time to reach their destinations as they make unscheduled halts in various crossings for negligence of the concerned railway controllers like local masters (LMs) and assistant local masters (ALMs), to drop local passengers, which they do for bribes.
When contacted a senior railway official said, "Trains should maintain time to attract more passengers and the controllers should discharge their duties sincerely and honestly to make that happen." He said the train services could be developed by increasing the number of locomotives, coaches and manpower, maintaining time and operating some local trains in the "vacated times" among some strategic stations. "Local trains lag behind in delivering the desired service due to negligence of the controllers," said a railway signal engineer preferring anonymity.

  CFL bulb distribution programme witnesses huge response
BSS, Mymensingh

The daylong Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFL) bulbs distribution programme of the government that began here on Saturday witnessed a huge response from people of all strata. State Minister for Health and Family Welfare Captain (retd) Mujibur Rahman Fakir inaugurated the programme by handing over CFL bulbs to a PDB consumer at the Mukul Niketan School centre in the town.
Speaking at a brief function on the occasion, Captain Mujibur said the initiative to give the people CFL bulbs free of cost for the first time in the country was not only part of the government's sincere efforts for solving the power crisis but also a reflection of its good gesture towards people's welfare.
He said the use of CFL bulbs would not only save electricity consumption but also would help improve environment as such bulbs are environment-friendly.
Chief Engineer of Mymensingh zone of Power Development Board (PDB) Abdul Wahab, Executive Engineer (Energy Auditing Unit) A K M Azad, Assistant Chief Engineer Nazrul Islam, SDE Engineer A B M Faruk and ASAE Engineer Kamrul Hasan Siddique were present on the occasion.
It was seen at a number of centres in the town that a good number of people, including women, gathered at their respective centres from the morning and had been waiting for long in the queue with patience to get the costly CFL bulbs for free.
PDB officials said interest from the mass people to get the CFL bulbs, popularly known as energy-saving bulbs, was tremendous and if they fail to hand over all the bulbs in a day to consumers, they would follow the government's instruction to this effect.
PDB sources said it fixed and listed 73,233 domestic consumers of major parts of Mymensingh, Netrakona and Kishoreganj districts, including sadar areas, to provide them a total of 1,80,506 bulbs of 14 watts and 1,47,754 bulbs of 23 watts through 73 selected centres. On the other hand, Mymensingh Palli Biddut Samity-1 (PBS-1) covering Fulbaria, part of sadar and Muktagacha upazilas under Mymensingh district and Madupur, Dhanbari, Gopalpur, Ghatail and Bhuapur upazilas under Tangail district has listed around 81,000 domestic consumers to distribute 1,80,000 CFL bulbs.
Awami League lawmaker from Muktagacha constituency K M Khalid Babu formally inaugurated the distribution programme of PBS-1 on the Muktagacha upazila parishad premises this morning.

  Arakan Rohingya National Organization urges UN to take steps for Suu Kyi's release

UNB, Dhaka

Arakan Rohingya National Organization (ARNO) Saturday urged the UN and international community to take immediate concrete action for the release of Burmese democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi and all political prisoners for a negotiated settlement of the political crisis, through tripartite dialogue, to establish democracy in Burma.
ARNO in a statement marking the 65th birthday of noble peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi said she is spending her birthday in detention away from her relatives and friends. She has spent almost 15 years in detention since 1989.
The statement said time and again the UN and the world leaders expressed that Suu Kyi's arrest is illegal and a clear violation of international law. "But no real action has yet been taken to secure her release as well as the release of all political prisoners," it said.
The statement said the Burmese military regime is busy with its own 'undemocratic roadmap' trying to legitimize its military dictatorship, with worst record of human rights violations and crimes against humanity, in the country.
"Evidently, the next SPDC's sham election based on its 2008 constitution will not bring any democratic changes in Burma," it said, adding "it will simply accelerate the existing human sufferings causing greater humanitarian disaster in the country."

  Dilip for law to protect Intellectual Property Rights
BSS, Dhaka

Industries Minister Dilip Barua on Saturday observed that the existing laws on Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) need to be updated and new law should be enacted to protect the IPR.
Inaugurating a workshop on IPR in the city, he also stressed the need for awareness campaign about the law before enactment.
Intellectual Property Rights Project of the Industries Ministry and World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) jointly organized the workshop titled 'Colloquium for Judges on the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights' with the support of the European Union.
Presided over by Project Director ABM Khorshed Alam, the inaugural session of the workshop was also addressed by Registrar of Department of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks M Anamul Huque and WIPO Director Louise Van Greunen.
The Industries Minister said creation, protection and management of intellectual property (IP) is becoming an instrument for national development in the context of globalization of trade and commerce and emerging knowledge world. Mentioning that developing countries have many challenges to overcome while evolving their own IP system, Dilip said where the economic growth of a nation is driven increasingly by the creativity and knowledge of their people, effective IP systems, may be considered as the key to unlocking this human potential.
Terming the infringement on IPR as a global threat amid increasing invention of sophisticated devices, the Minister said the tendency of the people to gain by imitating and piracy is certainly a big challenge for a least developed country like Bangladesh.
"For quick and effective materialization of the vision of building a digital Bangladesh, creation, protection and well-use of IP are a must," he said.
The Industries Minister expressed his gratitude to the EU and WIPO for helping the ministry in framing and amending laws, and automating the procedures of business of the Department of Patents, Designs and Trademarks and the Copyright under the IRP project.

   Deputy Speaker for proper use of budgetary allocations
BSS, Dhaka

Deputy Speaker Shawkat Ali today urged all concerned to ensure proper use of allocations in budget for public welfare.
He was speaking at a review meeting on the announced budget of fiscal 2010-2011, an official release said.
Susaner Jonno Procharavijan (Supro) organized the meeting at CIRDAP auditorium in the city. Economist Anu Muhammad and Syeda Asifa, among others, spoke on the occasion.
"Power sharing by all will ensure development," the deputy speaker said, adding that the local government system should be made more effective for this purpose. He emphasized undertaking projects locally and implementing those by own means.
The discussants urged the government to keep education and health sectors above commercialization for public welfare.

   Dacoits loot valuables from four houses, one shop in Manikganj

UNB, Manikganj

A gang of dacoits looted valuables worth Tk 6 lakh from four houses and one shop at Tarail village in Ghior upazila early hours of Friday.
Local sources said, the gang numbering 20/25 first swooped on the house of Shamin Hossain at about 12:30am and took away cash and other from his house.
Later, the gang entered into a nearby shop of Baju Kha and looted cash and other valuables worth Tk 15,000.
The bandits later raided the nearby houses of Wadud Ansari, Mannan Ansari and Shahjahan Mia one after another late at night.
They beat the house inmates indiscriminately and looted cash, gold ornaments, mobile phone sets and other valuables worth Tk 6 lakh.
Azizur Rahman, OC of Ghior thana confirmed the incidents.

   CSOs for greater effectiveness to development
BSS, Dhaka

A debate is on the rise on development effectiveness of the civil society organizations (CSOs) and their difference with NGOs as the former seeks to distance itself from the business outlook of the later.
"CSOs work at the grassroots to bring socio-economic changes, establish rights of the people and bring improvement in governance at various levels in sharp contrast to business outlook now dominating many NGO activities." This is how Rezaul Karim Chowdhury of Equitybd explain the difference between the NGOs and CSOs at a two-day conclave attended by representatives of about 85 CSOs last week held in a resort on the city outskirts. Participants from India and Philipines also attended the event which ended in a seminar on Thursday at CIRDAP auditorium in the city.Political leaders, civil society functionaries, donors' representatives and environmentalist activists took part in the seminar. Rezaul Karim said CSOs are striving to establish their own identity at a time when confusions with regard to transparency and credibility of NGO activities are on the rise mainly resulting from huge financial turnover and political involvement by many at different levels.

    Police must prove them as peoples servants and friends
BSS, Rangpur

State Minister for Home Affairs Advocate Shamsul Haque Tuku MP has said that the police must prove them as peoples' servant and friends through their professional performances even at their supreme sacrifices.
He also directed members of the police forces to launch a social movement by involving the people from all walks in the society against the drug addictions and drug traders with a clear view to make the society completely free form drugs.
Two Officers-in-Charge will be appointed for every police station to provide improved and increased services to the people and ensuring the best ever law and order situation by keeping the law and order situation excellent throughout the country, he said.
The State Minister was addressing as the chief guest 'Rangpur District Law and Order Committee Meeting' held at the conference room of Deputy Commissioner (DC) in the city yesterday.
Chaired by DC Of Rangpur BM Enamul Haque, the meeting was addressed, among others, by Vice-Chancellor of Begum Rokeya University Prof. Dr MA Jalil Miah, Deputy Inspector General of Rajshahi Range of Bangladesh Police Mokhlesur Rahman, Commanding Officer (CO) of RAB-5 Lt. Colonel Moin and CO of Rangpur 34 Rifle battalion Lt. Colnel Omar Sadi.
Rangpur SP Saleh Mohammad Tanveer, ADC (General) of Rangpur Ruhul Amin, Principal of Carmichael College Prof Abdul Wadud, Principal of Rangpur Government College Prof. Helal Uddin, JP leader Moshiur Rahman Ranga, Rangpur pourasabha Mayor AKM Abdur Rouf Manik, Press Club President Sadrul Alam Dulu and Mithapukur upazila chairman Zakir Hossain, addressed.
The State Minister directed police and other law enforcing agencies to bring all criminals including the terrorists, militants, extortionists, drug trafficker and anti-social elements to book without considering their political identity or relations.
He asked members of the police forces to conduct their duties with the maximum sincerity and professionalism to maintain the excellent law and order situation everywhere in the country by creating confidence among the common people.

Sports

Algeria holds England to scoreless draw
AP/UNB, Cape Town

Algeria held England to a 0-0 draw Friday and left one of the World Cup favorites on the brink of elimination with one game to go in the first round. With a sullen Wayne Rooney scoreless for a seventh straight match, England lacked heart and inspiration, struggling throughout against an opponent fighting to avoid becoming the first to be eliminated from the World Cup.
"We weren't aggressive enough," England captain Steven Gerrard said. "We never had the cutting edge."
The result set up a Group C finale on Wednesday with England taking on Slovenia and the United States playing Algeria. Slovenia leads the group with four points, followed by England and the United States with two each. Algeria has one point. "We got no excuses," Gerrard said. "We got to go and win the last game."
Even Algeria coach Rabah Saadane was surprised at England's poor performance. "I thought they would be better," Saadane said. "They were not at their best."
England coach Fabio Capello benched bungling goalkeeper Robert Green and brought back 39-year-old David James to boost confidence in the defense. With the return of defensive midfielder Gareth Barry, others would be unleashed to provide offensive sparkle against a tournament outsider.
But England still produced its second dud in as many games. Rooney, touted as one of the World Cup's biggest stars, struggled again and failed to muscle his way past the sturdy Algerian defense. Saadane also switched his goalkeeper, putting in M'bohi Rais Ouhed after Fawzi Chaouchi had made a blunder in the opening loss to Slovenia. Algeria, fighting for World Cup survival, never dug in defensively like so many underdogs but took the game to England and looked good during the first half and good enough afterward. Instead of Rooney, it was Karim Ziani who thrilled the crowd with his good moves. "We played our game of short passes and skills," Saadane said.

  Kamran’s fifty lifts Pakistan to 267
Cricinfo Online

India's attempts to halt Pakistan's relentless accumulation during the first half of the innings were as ineffective as trying to fix a leaky faucet with no tools. Pakistan had moved into a position of strength in a must-win game with risk-free batting when a middle-over wobble eroded the advantage built by their openers and Shoaib Malik. Losing three wickets for 15 runs, and more at frequent intervals thereafter, deprived Pakistan of the finish they were building towards.
Pakistan delayed taking the batting Powerplay too, reserving it for the final five overs even though Shahid Afridi was well set by the time 200 was reached in the 39th. And as that time approached, Praveen Kumar struck timely blows for India - dismissing Afridi eight balls before the fielding restrictions and Abdul Razzaq with the first delivery of the 36th over. It was left to Kamran Akmal, the sole surviving specialist, to score an aggressive half-century which lifted Pakistan to 267, a total that will challenge India under lights, but one that was smaller than what Pakistan were on course for.
The opening exchange of the Asia Cup's marquee clash was restrained. Praveen Kumar and Ashish Nehra moved the new ball but caused no scares, while Salman Butt and Imran Farhat were intent on preserving their wickets, blocking frequently, running urgently and finding the boundary only occasionally. The pitch had little pace and no bounce and, when Nehra or Praveen dropped short at 130kmh, Butt and Farhat pulled to the boundary to lift the scoring-rate to four and beyond. Dhoni turned to spin in the 15th over and the next three contained only three runs and a wicket. Harbhajan Singh forced an edge from Farhat with a slower delivery and Virender Sehwag grabbed a one-handed catch to his right. Pakistan were 71 for 1.
That wicket, however, did not bring more quickly for the Indians. Their tormentor of matches past, Malik, forged a hustling partnership with Butt, scoring at more than a run a ball with deft strokes behind square on the off side. He had used the cut to devastating effect against India in the 2009 Champions Trophy and began to do so again. Butt, who also enjoys batting against India, reached his half-century off 61 balls after making ducks in his last three innings.
Shahid Afridi and Umar Akmal began a promising partnership, scoring at over a run a ball. Having recovered from the cramps that racked his body during his century against Sri Lanka, Afridi attacked Harbhajan, carting him for a straight four and a six. The time was ripe for the batting Powerplay, but Pakistan postponed it and then lost two of their most potent finishers before it began. The innings was in danger of a limp finish but Kamran cleared the boundary three times during a 41-ball 51.

   More expected of Brazil against Ivory Coast
AFP, Johannesburg

Five-time World Cup winners Brazil are looking for a much-improved World Cup performance against the Ivory Coast on Sunday having failed to impress in their opening win over North Korea.
A wonder goal by right-back Maicon and a late strike from Elano were all Dunga's side had to show for 90 minutes against the dogged defence of the North Koreans who grabbed a late consolation goal through Ji Yun-Nam. Dunga admitted he was unimpressed with his side's 2-1 victory and is looking for an improved display against Sven-Goran Eriksson's Ivory Coast with Chelsea star Didier Drogba expected to play, despite a broken arm.
Now the Brazilians get down to the business end of Group G - dubbed the 'Group of Death' - with a showdown against Ivory Coast at Johannesburg's Soccer City, followed by a clash with Portugal in Durban on June 25. Midfielder Julio Baptista says he expects the Ivory Coast to give Brazil their toughest test before the knock-out phase between two sides who love to attack.
Dunga's team are not expecting the rigid marking they encoutered against North Korea, but Baptista, who did not face the North Koreans, said they expect an open game. "I think they will come against us and they will try to play," he said.
"Brazil will have enough space to play its own football.
"This will be our most difficult game because of the way the Ivory Coast play.
"Their players are physically strong and most of them play their club football in Europe and they know our style of play.
"We will try to neutralise their game and try to do our best." Brazil midfielder Gilberto Silva said the team expect a tough ride from Eriksson's side who held Portugal to a goalless draw in their opening game.
"We will be expecting a lot of difficulties against them. They have a strong team, but we are very confident that we can do well and win the game," he said.
Eriksson has said that "it wouldn't be surprising" if skipper Drogba started against the Brazilians after the Chelsea ace came on as a substitute against Portugal with his broken right arm in a protective cast.
But Brazil face a tough battle with or without him in the team.
"We don't know yet whether he (Drogba) will play or not, even though he came on as a substitute, but we'll see," Silva said.

  Torres confident WCup favorite Spain won't fall
AP/UNB, Potchefstroom

Spain striker Fernando Torres is confident that the team's bad day has passed, and that the European champions won't be leaving the World Cup early. Spain opened the tournament with a 1-0 loss to Switzerland, and the team next Honduras on Monday at Ellis Park in Group H. "In this World Cup we've seen that anyone can beat anyone.
Let's hope that our bad game, our bad day, has passed," Torres said Saturday. "We're seeing the favorites are being pushed to win. Everything is very close in the group phase and anything can happen, there's always surprises. Let's hope we're not one of them." Honduras also lost its opening match, so Switzerland and Chile lead the group with three points each.
"It's not what we expected but it can happen," Torres said. "What's important now is that we keep to our style, that we don't change anything because it's what helped us win. If we lose, we lose by our ideas."
While England and Germany struggled in their second group games, France is virtually out of the tournament after losing to Mexico. Brazil also had a tough time in an opening victory over North Korea. Torres played only the last half hour against the Swiss as he returns from right knee surgery. But the 26-year-old Liverpool striker appears to be ready to start.
"I've been training for more than two weeks with my teammates and little by little I've forgotten about the injury," Torres said. "It's up to the coach. He decides."
Alongside David Villa, Torres could provide the extra punch Spain was lacking against the Swiss - goals.
"We had chances. We didn't score a goal and that was the key. Let's hope it doesn't happen again since that would be odd," Torres said. "The most important thing is not to allow anxiety to overwhelm us if minutes pass and we are not able to score."
As coach Vicente del Bosque and all 23 players have repeated since Wednesday's loss, Spain is not going to change its system and will stick to its possession-based, quick-touch game regardless of who starts. While Torres played in Durban, midfielder Cesc Fabregas was an unused substitute.

  Life even sweeter now for Mexican ‘little pea’
AFP, Polokwane

Mexico's 'Little Pea' Javier Hernandez is in the spotlight after netting his first World Cup in the defeat of France which all but sent his compatriots through to the last 16.
Hernandez's cool finish midway through the second half after he started on the bench shattered a poor France team and Cuauhtemoc Blanco's penalty finished the job.
And the 22-year-old is now in the full glare of media attention after showing off talents that persuaded Manchester United to buy him for ten million dollars from Chivas of Guadalajara and Mexico coach Javier Aguirre to label him as the shining star in the "greatest young generation of Mexican footballers". In truth, the French might have seen it coming had they consulted the tournament history books in depth as Hernandez's grandfather Tomas Balcazar scored against France when the sides met in the 1954 World Cup. The French won that one but a side as disjointed and disinterested as Raymond Domenech's had nothing left in the tank after Hernandez beat the offside trap to prod home after 64 minutes.
"This win is just the start - there is a long way to go," said Hernandez, who added that, until Tuesday at least, when they will go up against joint group leaders Uruguay, "we're not thinking about that one. We want to enjoy this moment."
Hernandez admitted that it had crossed his mind that he was following the footsteps of his grandfather - his father Javier, nicknamed "big pea" for his green eyes, also played for the national side at the 1986 World Cup. "I remembered that in the dressing room, what my grandfather did in 1954, and thank God I was able to score a goal in this good team - though we have won nothing as yet," said the budding star whose strike against the French was also his country's 50th in World Cup finals. Asked for his family's reaction to his exploits he said: "I have not spoken to them as yet - but I always remember that my family is the principal reason for my being here.

  Venus eyes another all-Williams Wimbledon final
AFP, London

Venus Williams said Saturday she was dreaming of another Wimbledon final showdown with her younger sister Serena.
The US world number two and five-time Wimbledon ladies' singles champion said she was fit and ready to go as she prepared to do battle on grass once more.
The last two Wimbledon ladies' finals have been disputed between Venus and her sister, with Venus winning in 2008 and Serena winning last year. The Williams sisters have also won the last two ladies' doubles finals at the All England Club. "It would be great for us to do the final in singles and doubles," she told reporters.
"The last two years have been really great to anyone named Williams. So I would love for us to have that again." Having turned 30 on Thursday, Williams feels she is only getting better with age."People are able to accept that you can play tennis a lot longer. Before, people didn't go past 27. But at this time, it's when you really most understand the game," she said. "It's actually an advantage to be out here at this stage in the career.
"The more you win, the more you lose, the more you understand. It's pretty simple. By the time you've played as many years as I have, if you don't understand more about the game, I don't know what to say."
Despite reaching the 30 milestone, her birthday was not a wild affair bursting with celebrations - just more of what she called the "everyday grind".
"I went to practice and I went to the gym. Was it Thursday? Yeah. Nothing special," the US star said.
Williams admitted she was hooked on her sport as she contemplated going into her 50th Grand Slam.
"It's awesome. It's exciting. Tennis players are very addicted to tennis. Anyone who loves this game, they always make it a part of their life. So I'm one of those people. I'm addicted to tennis and I'm addicted to the majors," she said.
Williams said she had not been studying the draw closely, preferring to focus on getting through her matches. She faces Rossana de los Rios in the first round. In their only previous match, at the 2008 US Open, Williams beat her in straight sets.
"I just take it one round at a time, focus on my game. Of course, I love this surface. Having a lot of success here helps a lot. So I'll be ready to go," she said.

  Carter in command as All Blacks trounce Wales
AFP, Dunedin

Dan Carter was at his imperial best here Saturday, taking command of a 42-9 All Blacks victory over Wales in the home side's last Test at the iconic Carisbrook ground.
Carter set an individual record of 27 points against Wales, with two tries, four conversions and three penalties. However, with Carter out of the equation it was not a performance with which the All Blacks will be overly happy as Wales proved to be a far more formidable opponents than Ireland, whom the All Blacks trounced 66-28 a week ago.
On a firm surface and with both sides willing to move the ball at every opportunity, the All Blacks held a slender 15-9 lead at half-time before Carter engineered a runaway performance in the second half.
Before a sellout crowd of 29,000 who turned out for the final match at the Carisbrook, also known as the House of Pain because visiting teams find it difficult to win there, the All Blacks outscored Wales five tries to nil.
The victory meant they have lost only five of 37 Tests at Carisbrook, while extending their all-venue winning streak against Wales to 23, dating back to 1953.
Wales looked as if they could arrest their dismal run against the All Blacks in the early stages of the match.
Throughout the first half they matched the All Blacks in the tight phases of the game, and enjoyed an advantage both in territory and possession before holding up the white flag in the second spell, when Carter ran riot.
"I was pretty pleased with the way I played, especially in the second half to turn things around was a lot of fun," the ace pivot said, attributing the turnaround to "a few stern words" from coach Graham Henry at halftime.
"A couple of key messages-play at the right end of the field, plugging the corners and holding onto the ball-we did that and it worked for us and we were able to get some confidence and play well after that.

  Netherlands beats Japan 1-0 and group pole
AFP, Durban

Wesley Sneijder fired the Netherlands to a comfortable 1-0 win over Japan and pole position in World Cup Group E here on Saturday.
After seeing off Denmark 2-0 in their opening match, the Dutch now sit atop their group on a maximum six points from two games, with Japan on three points having beaten Cameroon 1-0 in their opener.
Should Denmark and Cameroon draw in Pretoria later on Saturday, the Netherlands will be guaranteed a berth in the second round, but a victory for either side would mean the Oranje were still not mathematical certs to progress.
The Netherlands dominated possession and territory against the Blue Samurai, who played deep in defence and were largely content to sit back while the star-studded Dutch team stroked the ball around the middle of the park. After a first-half devoid of any real scoring opportunities and with Japan on top in the final minutes, the Dutch came out firing in the second period.
Japan's Brazil-born defender Tulio Tanaka was called on to make four clearing headers in quick succession, but the fifth fell to the feet of Robin van Persie in the 53rd minute.
Under pressure, the Arsenal striker saw the ball squirt out to the edge of the area, where it was met by the booming right foot of Sneidjer, the Inter Milan midfielder unleashing a shot which Eiji Kawashima could only deflect into the goal netting.
But it was not all plain sailing for the Netherlands, who often became bogged down in midfield. Sneijder had arguably the first chance of the game, blasting a free-kick high over the goal.
Daisuke Matsui impressed in midfield for Japan and saw one low shot go just past the upright of Maarten Stekelenburg's goal, the Dutch keeper then doing well to parry the Grenoble player's dipping 25-metre shot.
Van Persie had two decent chances early in the second-half, first seeing his header saved by Kawashima and then failing to connect with a sliding half-volley. Dutch replacement Ibrahim Afellay saw a late effort well saved by Kawashima and the defence scramble away another attempt on goal with two minutes to play.
As regulation time was called, Japanese replacement Shinji Okazaki found himself with an excellent chance to level the scores, but his twisting effort in the Dutch box was blasted over the crossbar.

  Senderos out for Swiss, Suazo set for Chile return
AFP, Port Elizabeth

Giant killers Switzerland will be without star defender Philippe Senderos when they face Chile here on Monday.
Fulham's new signing misses the Group H tie at the Nelson Mandela Bay stadium with a right ankle injury picked up in Switzerland's shock opening 1-0 defeat of World Cup favourites Spain.
The Swiss are hoping to have Senderos back should they seal their passage to the last 16. A second round ticket is well within their grasp after they toppled European champions Spain in Durban on Wednesday.
Midfielder Gelson Fernandes's second half goal gave Ottmar Hitzfeld's men a maiden win over the Spanish in 85 years.
Hitzfeld underlined the importance of Senderos though to his side when he said: "It will be very difficult to replace him."
Swiss striker and captain Alexander Frei and midfielder Valon Behrami, who both missed the opener with injury, are once again rated doubtful for Monday's second World Cup outing.
Chile created their own bit of history when a first half strike from Jean Beausejour gave them a 1-0 win over Honduras to end a 13-game winless run spanning four World Cups.
The South Americans' last success in the tournament came in 1962 when they beat the then Yugoslavia to finish third as hosts.
They faced Honduras without top striker Humberto Suazo, the leading scorer in the South American qualifiers with 10 goals who has been recovering from a leg injury. Suazo completed a full training session on Friday and is set to make his 2010 World Cup debut against the Swiss.
Suazo was sorely missed and coach Marcelo Bielsa, who is desperate to reach the second round having failed to do so in 2002 with his native Argentina, expressed concern at the 1-0 scoreline.
"If the group is decided on goal difference then we will rue the chances we missed. We could have scored more goals and we were on top."
The 54-year-old added: "We'll try to win the next game because the objective is to pass to the next round and start writing new records." Hitzfeld for his part, speaking after the Spanish KO, described Switzerland's win as "a gift".
"It's great to start the tournament with three unexpected points against one of the biggest contenders for the title. "It's an excellent start and exactly what we needed. We'll now go into the Chile match with resolve and a great deal of self-confidence which we need to tackle the more difficult challenges ahead." After Monday's clash Chile face Spain in Pretoria on Friday with Switzerland completing their first round against Honduras in Bloemfontein the same day.

  Defoe says fans entitled to boo woeful England
AFP, Cape Town

Jermain Defoe has distanced himself from team-mate Wayne Rooney's angry reaction to the jeers England received from their own fans after their goalless draw with Algeria.
Rooney was scathing about the fans' response to a result which has left England needing to beat Slovenia in their final group match to be sure of progressing to the knockout stages, saying: "It's nice to see your home fans booing you."
But Defoe said players had to accept the fans' right to complain.
"I think it is part and parcel of playing at this level," he said. "You can understand fans getting frustrated and obviously they have travelled miles to come and support the team. But I think it's important for the fans to stay behind us because the lads are devastated we didn't win. "We want to do it for everyone back home, for our families, the boys, the manager and everyone.
"It's not nice to get booed, to be honest, especially when you try your best and it's difficult out there."
Defoe, who came on as a second-half substitute for Emile Heskey but made no more impression than his team-mate, said England could still have a good tournament.
"Everyone is frustrated but we've got players who have been there and done it before, playing in major tournaments," he said.
"We're a great side so it's important to keep going. Wednesday is a different game, we'll go into it confident and go out there and win the game. "I know people look at the fixture and think we should win the game quite comfortably but that's never the case."
The striker added: "It's difficult because at this level no game is easy, especially at the World Cup, and I thought Algeria played well to be honest. They made it difficult for us.
"When they lost the ball, they got back in their shape. I thought they were organised. "We tried our best and had a little bit of bad luck with some opportunities, especially in the second half. I thought we were the better side. We put them under pressure when the game got stretched.
"With a little bit of luck we would have scored. But I think it's important for us to keep the spirit, and keep working hard in training, and on Wednesday we'll win."

  Pressure getting to us, says Capello
AFP, Cape Town

England's star players are struggling to cope with the pressure of a World Cup according to coach Fabio Capello who is hoping they can pull themselves together for the crunch match against Slovenia.
The team was woeful in its 0-0 draw with Algeria on Friday, which leaves them with just two points from two games and facing a must-win clash in Port Elizabeth on Wednesday.
They were booed off the field in Cape Town and woke up to scathing headlines in Britain on Saturday, with The Sun newspaper summing it up: "There can be no excuses, this was as bad as it gets."
Capello, who has not escaped the criticism, admitted it wasn't good and said the huge pressure of expectation to deliver their first title since 1966 was taking its toll.
"Yes, I think the pressure of the World Cup exists," he said. "These players are training very well. But these two games were not the same team I know. I hope to see on Wednesday the real England team.
"I remember when I first started to be England manager, I saw the same thing when we played at Wembley-we forgot to play without fear and with confidence. "It was incredible the mistakes we made. It was incredible for the level of the England players."
The team struggled to find any rhythm and gave the ball away far too easily, with none of the players, who looked tired and devoid of creativity, standing out.
"We didn't play a good game," added the frustrated Italian. "We missed a lot of balls when we should have controlled them. We missed a lot of passes. We missed everything."
Asked if England could still win the World Cup, Capello hesitated, then said: "I think, no I hope, that after a big performance the minds of the players will break free and then we can play like the England that I know. "This is very important."
The team returns to its training base in Rustenburg to try and work out what to do.

  Kiwis warning for Italy: ‘let’s get physical'
AFP, Johannesburg

The Italians proclaim defeat is unthinkable but the New Zealand All Whites are planning to give the defending champions a run for their money at the World Cup on Sunday.
On face value, Italy, among the aristocrats of world football with four World Cups, are unbackable favourites to put the Oceania minnows in their place in Nelspruit and step up their title defence. Both teams kicked off Group F with 1-1 draws-the Azzurri struggled and needed a Daniele De Rossi second-half equaliser against Paraguay in Cape Town.
Meanwhile, New Zealand celebrated their first-ever World Cup point with a stoppage-time leveller with Slovakia in Rustenburg.
Italy, number five in the world, up against the 78th-ranked Kiwis looks a mismatch, but Italy have a history of inglorious defeats, losing 1-0 to North Korea in 1966 and 2-1 to South Korea in 2002. "There are teams that we should beat, we're better. We need to play our game and of course be careful," De Rossi said. "They have big players so we won't be playing the ball in the air. But we're Italy and we should win. "Not getting out of the group would be an absolute failure, it would also be a failure to not get past the second round."
New Zealand, for their part, are talking up their muscular approach, aiming to unhinge the lavishly-paid professionals of Serie A and etching their name into World Cup folklore.
"We're a big solid team and that's what we've designed ourselves around," defender Ben Sigmund said. "With us Kiwis, we've always been that. The English style comes in with all the imports that have come out to New Zealand, so we've built that style. It's a great thing to have and I think a lot of other teams are scared."
There will be little subtlety in the All Whites' approach as they aim to play to their aerial strength. Sigmund said New Zealand won't hesitate to whack the ball long to central striker Rory Fallon and feed off his height.
"Rory Fallon is about seven foot tall when he jumps and he's got a couple of good elbows on him as well, which I wouldn't want to get in the way of," Sigmund said. De Rossi said he doesn't want Sunday's game to become a purely physical battle.
"I like the manly game but I also like playing the ball around. But I don't like it when the game gets too physical, not because I'm afraid but because I like the beautiful game," he said. "But I haven't seen any really physical battles in the World Cup, they've all been good games and I think this one will be similar to the Paraguay game."
The Italians will remember their only encounter with New Zealand in a friendly ahead of the Confederations Cup last year in South Africa when they won 4-3. The All Whites led the match on three occasions through goals from Shane Smeltz and Chris Killen before Italy clawed back to win. Italy will be without their talisman goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, who suffered a recurrence of a herniated disc against Paraguay and is unlikely to play again at the World Cup, giving way to Cagliari's Federico Marchetti.