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Leading News
Violent factory strikes threaten
Bangladesh ambitions
AFP, Savar
Hundreds of Bangladeshi clothing factories hit by violent
protests this week by workers demanding higher pay are set
for further industrial unrest unless conditions improve,
experts say.
Tens of thousands of workers who stitch clothes for
Western brands vandalised factory equipment and torched
delivery vans this week, forcing riot police to respond
with rubber bullets, water cannon and tear gas.
The hundreds of garment factories in the vast Ashulia
industrial zone outside Dhaka closed temporarily, and now
are rushing to meet orders for retailers such as Tesco,
Wal-Mart and H&M.
But experts warn more violence is not far off.
"Unless the wages are increased, protests, riots and
stoppages will persist," said Ifty Islam, an investment
banker at Dhaka-based Asian Tiger Capital, advising
factory owners and Western buyers to give ground in the
escalating dispute.
"It would be worth it for them in the long term," he said.
"Bangladesh has a huge opportunity to capitalise on rising
costs in China but it is difficult to get more foreign
firms to come if we can't prevent labour unrest."
The violent protests threaten to undo the benefits the
global economic recovery has brought Bangladesh-a 15
percent year-on-year increase in exports for April and May
2010, said Dhaka-based economist Mustafizur Rahman.
"The violence is a bad omen and we need to sort it out
quickly-we've just started to see signs of global recovery
through new orders but unrest threatens this," said Rahman,
who heads the Center for Policy Dialogue think-tank.
The minimum wage in Bangladesh is one of the lowest in the
world-just 1,662 taka (24 dollars) a month. Workers are
demanding at least 5,000 taka and also want holiday time,
sick pay and official union recognition.
In 2009, garments accounted for 80 percent of Bangladesh's
exports, making the sector key to the deeply impoverished
nation's economic future.
"This is the most urgent issue facing Bangladesh right
now-the government, workers and manufacturers have to
reach a consensus on fair wages," said Syed Sultan Ahmed
of the Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies.
The industry employs around three million workers, 80
percent of whom are women-though the strike violence was
led by men like Jahan Alam, a sewing machine operator at
the Scandex factory in Ashulia.
Energy
shortfall causes $ 16.6 b loss a year: BUET professor
UNB, Dhaka
BUET professor Ijaz Hossain on Thursday claimed that
energy shortage annually causes nearly US$ 16.6 billion
economic loss to the country.
He made the claim while making a presentation on "the
Impact of Power & Gas Crisis on the export-oriented
manufacturing sector" at a luncheon meeting at Sonargaon
Hotel in the city, organized by Dutch-Bangla Chamber of
Commerce and Industry (DBCCI).
Giving a calculation, Prof Ijaz said if 10 percent of the
energy shortfall is assumed in the export-oriented
manufacturing sector, its loss will be US$ 1.33 billion.
Prof Ijaz did not elaborate on the basis of his
calculation, but said that the energy shortfall is 4
million tons of oil-equivalent a year.
Such remarks came from a professor of Bangladesh
University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) at a time
when the country has been experiencing severe power and
gas crisis.
According to the BUET professor, the country's present
power generation capacity is 4500 MW against a demand of
6000 MW while daily gas production is 2000 million cubic
feet (MMCF) against a demand of 2500 MMCF.
State-owned Power Development Board (PDB) chairman ASM
Alamgir Kabir, Netherlands' Ambassador Alphons Hennekens,
DBCCI president Rakesh Mohan, secretary general Osama
Taseer and joint secretary general Sadi Chowdhury also
spoke at the meeting.
Advocating for taking a prompt decision by the government
to extract coal for diversified energy sources for power
generation, Prof Ijaz said that the country has reserve of
world-class coal with very low sulphur content, lower than
5 percent even.
"This coal should be immediately extracted for power
generation to reduce the overall generation cost," he
said.
PDB chairman Alamgir Kabir said the government has moved
for quick rental power plants as a short-term solution to
the nagging power crisis. "We took these plants through
direct negotiation with the sponsors."
PM
for use of genome sequencing of jute for socio-economic
development
BSS, Dhaka
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday called upon the
scientists to use genome sequencing of jute for the socio-
economic development of the country.
She made the call when Agriculture Minister Begum Matia
Chowdhury and a group of scientists involved in decoding
genome sequencing of golden fiber jute called on Prime
Minister Sheikh Hasina at her official Ganobhaban
residence here this morning.
Assuring of her government's allout cooperation to
scientists in conducting more research in this field, she
said her administration will provide total support
including increasing service tenure, salary scales and
other facilities to the researchers until final results of
the studies.
In this context, she said those research would not bring
any fruitful results for the country if a researcher goes
on retirement in the middle of any study due to age bar.
Among others, Agriculture Minister Begum Matia Chowdhury,
team leader of decoding genome sequencing Dr. Maqsudul
Alam, world famous genome scientist Chris Detter and
Chairman of Board, University Sains Malaysia Professor
Emeritus Dr. Mohammad Zawari Ismail were in the
delegation.
Describing the invention of genome sequencing of jute as a
splendid one, Sheikh Hasina said with the discovery jute
will get back its lost glory as golden fiber of Bangladesh
and that will ensure multipurpose use of jute. She
congratulated the scientist and team leader of jute plant
genome decoding and other researchers for the invention
saying that their innovation will play an important role
for the overall development of the country.
Khaleda asks her
party leaders to make hartal successful
UNB, Dhaka
BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia on Thursday night directed her
party's top brass to remain in streets along with the
workers on June 27 to make the dawn-to-dusk hartal an all
out success.
The directive came from a meeting presided by Khaleda at
her Gulshan office at 9pm with the BNP's top leaders and
presidents and general secretaries of its front and
associate organizations. The meeting that lasted about an
hour was attended by members of the standing committee,
vice-chairmen, BNP chairperson's advisers, joint secretary
generals and organizing secretaries. BNP secretary general
Khandaker Delwar Hossain was present at the meeting. The
meeting sources said Khaleda Zia asked the top brasses of
BNP and its all wings to actively participate in and
picket on the hartal day peacefully and face politically
along with the people if any obstruction comes from the
government side.
The June 27 countrywide hartal, first against the
18-month-old Awami League government was called by Khaleda
Zia on May 19 on a package of issues and demands that
include ensuring utility services like supply of gas,
electricity and water, stopping extortion, grabbing and
tender manipulation by ruling party terrorists, scrapping
anti-national agreements singed with India and contain the
price hike.
Special drive against old
buses, trucks in July
UNB, Dhaka
Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) will launch a special
drive in the capital to remove over 20 years old passenger
carrying buses and minibuses and goods carrying trucks and
vans over 25 years old, in an effort to ease traffic
congestion and check environmental pollution.
An inter-ministerial meeting with Communication Minister
Syed Abul Hossian in the chair at his ministry on Thursday
took the decision.
The communication minister informed the meeting of another
decision that trucks will now ply the capital from 12am at
night to 4am instead of the earlier scheduled 10pm to 5
am.
Representatives of owners of transports and transport
associations and government officials present at the
meeting accepted the decisions. On April 27, the
government banned over 20 years old passenger carrying
buses and minibuses and over 25 years old goods carrying
vehicles in the capital and on inter-district highways.
Communication Minister Abul Hossain urged owners not to
engage in any 'todbir' during special drive aimed at
removing those old vehicles. He stressed massive publicity
and campaign against these old vehicles.
It was informed that there remained a total of 13,778
unfit motor vehicles.
The four categories of vehicles that will be removed are -
over 20 years old buses and minibuses and over 25 years
old trucks and vans.
BRTA chairman Ayub Rahman, BRTC chairman MM Iqbal, Dhaka
Transport Corporation Board (DTCB) executive director Dr
Salahuddin, secretary general of Bangladesh Sarak
Paribahan Association secretary general Khandaker Enayet
and officials of Shipping Ministry and RAJUK were also
present at the meeting.
7 BCL men hurt
in factional clash
UNB, Comilla
Seven Chhatra League activists were injured in a rival
clash between two groups of BCL over the admission trade
at Comilla Government College in the town on Thursday
afternoon.
The injured were rushed to different hospitals in the
town. The college students said admission at HSC level was
still going on in the college. Two groups of Chhatra
League created pressure upon the college authorities to
admit the students from the waiting list according to
their own list, avoiding the merit list.
The clash ensued at about 3pm when the activists of two
rival groups who had gathered at the college to admit
their own candidates, were locked in an altercation over
it. Both groups used lethal weapons during the clash,
leaving seven BCL activists injured. Principal of the
college Dr Asaduzzaman said the clash took place over
political rivalry, not for admission.
Back Page
JS extends Speedy Trial Act tenure
for another 2 years
UNB, Sangsad Bhaban
Independent member Fazlul Azim vehemently opposed the
Speedy Trial Act as a 'black law' as Parliament on
Thursday extended the enforcement period of the act to
another two years till April 8, 2012 to try offences like
snatching, extortion and creating terror.
Home Minister Sahara Khatun piloted the Law and Order
Obstruction Offence (Speedy Trial) Bill 2010 which was
passed by voice vote without much discussion in the
absence of the opposition members.
In support of his contention, Azim said the ruling Awami
League, while in opposition in 2002 had opposed a similar
bill as 'black law'. He said it is deplorable that after
assuming office the Awami League proposed to extend the
duration of the law.
Azim, who was a BNP lawmaker in 2002, said the purpose of
the law has not been served as quick trial could not be
held. Rather, he said cases under this act are pending for
years together.
He alleged that the party in power abuses this act and
general people are being harassed by this act.
Azim said there is no dearth of laws to deal with the
crimes. He said laws are in place but there is no
appropriate application of laws by the law enforcing
agencies, which are being influenced by those in power.
As the Home Minister said, independent member Azim did not
oppose the law when it was enacted in 2002. In reply Azim
said this is the time to scrap all black laws. "We must
learn from our mistakes," he said. Sahara said the
extension of the law is required as 865 cases are under
investigation and 1747 cases await disposal under the law.
The Speedy Trial Act was first introduced in 2002 to try
the offences like extortion, impediment to traffic
movement, damaging vehicles, movable and immovable
property, snatching, creating situation of fear and chaos,
obstruction to buying-selling of tender documents,
intimidation etc.
Since the enactment of the law, it has been extended after
every two years.
WB sees budget to
propel growth
BSS, Dhaka
The World Bank (WB) in an atypical gesture on Thursday
gave the proposed budget high score with the overall
observation that the fiscal measures would largely propel
infrastructure development and inclusive growth.
"The FY11 (fiscal year 2010-11) budget intends to be more
self-reliant, infrastructure-friendly and inclusive,"
Zahid Hussain, Senior Economist of the WB Dhaka office,
said. Presenting a detailed review of the proposed budget,
he and some his fellow researchers are on the strong
opinion that the fiscal target is achievable although to
some extent it sounds ambitious.
"The targeted 6.7 percent GDP growth can be attained in
the next financial year," Zahid said, but attached the
success with some vital conditions that should be
fulfilled through concerted efforts.
According to him, the growth prospect will depend on
favourable weather conditions, political situation, more
investment and efficient financial management.
"Weather and politics depend on our luck, but we can take
effective efforts to increase investment and quality of
fiscal management," the WB economist said.
The WB review says increase in the public investment will
play a vital role in achieving growth target when
efficient fiscal management will make the growth
sustainable.
The public investment is now around 4.3 per cent of the
GDP, which is expected to be increased with the proposed
higher allocation to power, infrastructure and rural
development sectors and with implementation of the
Public-Private Partnership (PPP) projects, the review
said.
Regarding fiscal deficit, the WB observes the economy is
well equipped with excess liquidity in the banking system
to meet the deficit without putting any negative impact on
the flow of private sector's credit and investment.
JS committee for
building food stock
BSS, Dhaka
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of
Food and Disaster Management on Thursday asked the
concerned authorities to expedite rice collection to
maintain market supply steady and keep price at the
affordable level.
The committee at a meeting with its chairman Md Sayedul
Haque presiding over it, further asked the authorities to
ensure rice collection in North Bengal achieving the
target, in addition to taking initiative to import rice to
avoid any supply shortfall. Committee members and Food and
Disaster Management Minister Dr Abdur Razzak, Narayan
Chandra Chand, Begum Saleha Musharraf, Md Zafar Ali, Md
Muzahar Ali Prodhan, Md Akram Hossain Chowdhury and
Iqbalur Rahim attended the meeting.
The meeting was told that the country is having enough
stock of rice and wheat, the challenge is to keep prices
stable. The meeting sought direct intervention of the
state minister for power to ensure uninterrupted power
supply in Dinajpur and Naogaon districts to make sure rice
collection hitting the target.
The meeting recommended that the government should enact a
law for disaster management. Moreover, it reviewed the
progress of implementation of previous recommendations of
the committee on various issues.
The meeting was informed that the government assistance in
various flood-affected areas, in addition to cyclone Aila-hit
coastal region is going on, said an official handout.
Road accident
kills 5, including three of a family in Sylhet
UNB, Sylhet
Five people, including three of a family, were killed and
two others injured in a head-on collision between a
passenger bus and an auto-rickshaw in Golapganj upazila on
Wednesday night.
The deceased were all passengers of the auto-rickshaw.
They were identified as Maya Begum, 60, wife of late
Nuruddin of Matijura village of Biyanibazar upazila;, her
daughter Mina Begum, 26, wife of Selim Ahmed of Amkona
village in Golapganj; Mina's daughter Saima Begum, 3;
expatriate Abdul Hannan, 38, son of Rekib Ali of Khagail
village in Golapganj; and autorickshaw driver Faruk Ahmed,
40, son of late Mokbul Ali of Sunampur village of the same
upazila.
The two injured were identified as Mina's husband Selim
Ahmed, 38, and sister Sajna Begum.
Police said the accident occurred when the Zakiganj-bound
bus from Sylhet collided with the CNG-run auto-rickshaw at
Hetimganj Bazar at about 9:30pm, killing the five people
on the spot and injuring the two others.
On information, police recovered the bodies and
immediately sent them to Sylhet Osmany Medical College
Hospital for autopsy. After the autopsies were done at the
hospital, the bodies were handed over to relations on
Thursday.
Suranjit
regrets budget debate in absence of Finance Minister
UNB, Sangsad Bhaban
Treasury bench member Suranjit Sengupta on Thursday
regretted that in the absence of the Finance Minister,
no-one takes note of speeches delivered by the lawmakers
in the general debate on the proposed national budget in
Parliament.
Speaking on a point of order, Sengupta drew the attention
of the Speaker and Deputy Leader of the House, and said
usually the Finance Minister is present in the House
during the general debate on the national budget.
If the minister can't attend for any reason, then the
state minister for finance attends, and if the state
minister cannot, then the planning minister, and if the
planning minister as well is unable to attend, then the
finance secretary from the gallery takes notes, or the
concerned NBR official takes notes, he told the House.
But Sengupta said he often observed that in the absence of
the Finance Minister, no-one is taking any note of the
general debate.
He said although the opposition is not attending
parliament, the general debate on the budget is very
important. The lawmakers during their budget discussions
put across what they think would be good for enriching the
budget to help the government.
Police to go tough with pickets
during hartal
BSS, Dhaka
The members of the law enforcing agencies will take tough
actions against the pickets if they involve in unlawful
activities anywhere during Sunday's countrywide hartal.
The decision was taken at a high level meeting of the
police and RAB officials at the Police Headquarters here
on Thursday.
Chaired by the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Nur
Mohammad, the meeting was, attended, among others, by all
Additional Inspector General of Police (Adi- IGP), Acting
Director General of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), all
Deputy Inspectors General of Police (DIG), Commissioners
of all metropolitan areas, Commanding Officers (CO) of all
battalions of the RAB and all Deputy Commissioners (DCs)
of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP).
The IGP told BSS that every citizen has his own rights to
practice democracy, but none can be forced to stage hartal.
If anybody open his business establishments during the
hartal hours, none would be allowed to stop it, he said
adding that none would be allowed to carryout destructive
activities in the name of hartal.
Meanwhile, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) will deploy
over 10,000 police forces throughout the capital during
the hartal to avoid any untoward incident. The RAB will
also deploy over 3000 members at all strategic points of
the capital to guard it during the hartal.
Side by side with the uniformed police, plain clothed
members of the detective branch (DB) will patrol the city
during the hartal hours. Special Sowat team and bomb
disposal units of the DMP will also be readied at the
police control room during the hartal.
Senior officials of the DMP will monitor the overall law
and order situation during hartal at all major points of
the capital from the Shahbagh Police Control Room and the
Sub-Control at Abdul Gani Road.
The main opposition BNP has called the dawn to dusk hartal
on Sunday across the country in support of their various
demands.
Editorial
Freeing capital from
traffic jam
Prime
Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday spelt out in parliament
her government's detailed plans to free capital Dhaka from
unbearable traffic congestion. The plans include shifting of
long distance bus counters from city centers to inter-district
bus terminals, introduction of IC Card Ticketing System (E-ticketing),formulationof
parking policy, construction of five overpass/flyovers at
Mirpur-Zia Colony, Maghbazar-Mouchak (combined) flyover,
Jurain Overpass, Kuril Interchange, and Jatrabari-Gulistan
flyover.
Replying to a question Hasina said Bus-Bay, zebra crossing,
speed breaker, traffic signs/road signs and parking are being
set up at different places of Dhaka City. She said in a
survey, metro rail from Uttara to Syedabad has been primarily
identified as a priority project to tackle the traffic jam in
Dhaka City. She admitted that it requires 25 percent of road
for proper traffic management in Dhaka City but only 7-8
percent roads are in place. New roads need to be constructed
to cope with the increasing vehicle on to the streets, she
said.
Besides, the Prime Minister also told the Parliament that a
new law titled Road Transport and Traffic Bill with the
provision of tough punishment is being prepared in a bid to
reduce road accidents in the country. Spelling out the steps
for reducing road accidents that claim lives of many people
everyday, she said that the 32-member National Road Safety
Council headed by the Communication Minister has been
reorganized. Meanwhile, the government on Thursday decided to
launch a drive in Dhaka city from July 15 to remove 25 years
old buses, minibuses and trucks from the street as one of the
measures to ease the nagging traffic congestion.
The Prime Minister has dealt with a very important issue which
calls for urgent resolution. Traffic congestion is a long
standing problem that disrupt the normal life in the city.
Much has been said and various methods have been applied to
resolve the unbearable traffic congestion in the city, but all
in vain. Severe traffic jam is a major problems gripping the
people and it continues to be complicated with the passing of
time as the population of the city is growing fast, the
pressure of commuters is mounting on the roads and the influx
of vehicles is increasing. Lack of well-planned efforts by the
successive governments to ease the traffic congestions in the
city has aggravated the crisis. Even though the authorities
have been trying to resolve the crisis by introducing
different methods there has been no let up in the congestion.
The city dwellers are facing the severest ever traffic jam in
the capital in recent days. One of the major causes of this
situation is that on an average 50 new vehicles are coming to
the street everyday. Thousands of small vehicles were imported
over the last few years . Worse still, the number of rickshaws
and vans etc in the city continues to rise rapidly. According
to a report published in this paper earlier: At least three
lakh rickshaws, 50,000 vans and 20,000 pushcarts are presently
running illegally in the city whereas only 79,616 legal
rickshaws are allowed to ply the city roads. Illegal rickshaws
and vans continue to ply the city roads under the nose of the
traffic police.
The measures outlined by the Prime Minister should be
implemented as early as possible in order to ease the traffic
jam in the city. To this end the activities between DCC and
traffic department should be integrated, traffic rules should
be implemented strictly, and violators of the rules should be
seriously dealt with. Meanwhile, the large scale import of
small vehicles should be discouraged by imposing duties at a
higher rate and use of public transports in increased number
should be encouraged under well planned traffic system.
Besides, some more flyovers and by-pass roads should be
constructed on urgent basis.
Population
explosion
Country's
population is increasing by two million every year and the
total population of the country is likely to reach 220 million
by 2021. About 30 percent of total population of the country
is below 15 years, which is very alarming due to the fact that
this section of population will gradually enter into the
reproductive age. This has been stated by Professor Dr
Nurunnabi, Project Director of Population Science Department
of Dhaka University. He told BSS that the increased population
is causing massive pressure on limited resources and reducing
the per capita wealth. With the new young generation the size
of country's population will reach to 220 million even if we
can bring down their total fertility rate (TFR) to a
settlement position by 2011, he said. According to a UN study,
Bangladesh's total population now exceeded 160 million
bringing forth one new born baby in very 11 seconds.
Against this grim backdrop, it was quite right on the part of
Planning Minster Air vice Marshal (retd) AK Khandakar to
stress recently the need for checking growth of the country's
population to ensure sustainable development. "Additional
population growth is a major barrier to the country's
development. At any cost, we have to bring back the population
growth rate close to zero," he said.
In today's world population is considered everywhere as human
resource. But unfortunately, in our country our huge
population sometimes appears to be a burden due to illiteracy
and unemployment. If the country's population continues to
increase at the present rate, fulfilling people's basic needs
like food, clothing, accommodation, education, health and
communications infrastructures will be more difficult. In
fact, the huge population in a small country contributes
largely to its poverty,hunger, unemployment, illiteracy,
diseases, crimes and social instability. In view of this, the
government should step up its efforts to control the
population explosion by all possible means.
Analysis
Afghan war's tipping point
If Karzai wants Pakistani assistance he has to
distance himself from the Indians.
Khalid Aziz
The contours of a
confused end to the war in Afghanistan can be discerned now.
After the failure of the operation in Marja, Helmand, the
much-hyped operation in Kandahar may not prove more than a
military exercise undertaken for the benefit of US voters to
show that something far-reaching is being accomplished, the
reality, of course, being very different.
President Hamid Karzai has lost faith in his western
supporters and has accused the West of instigating the attack
on the recent loya jirga that he had summoned in Kabul to
reach the Taliban. He also accused two important officials of
his government for "being agents of the US and Nato". Both
Amrullah Saleh, the director of the Afghan Intelligence
Service and the interior minister, Hanif Atmar, resigned from
their jobs recently.
If there was ever any doubt about Karzai's intentions, these
actions clearly show that he has decided to worry about his
future rather than fight the Taliban at the behest of his
allies. He is a most astute man. He has realised the futility
of investing more goodwill in an enterprise that is failing.
It is thus unlikely that Karzai will permit the Afghan
National Army or the Afghan police to operate jointly with US
or Nato forces except in unimportant operations.
As a matter of fact, Karzai would have already opened a
channel with the Taliban by now to ensure that there is no
mishap before he has succeeded in reaching a settlement with
them. Will he succeed? Lessons from Afghan history and the
nature of the present Afghan war indicate that he will face
great difficulty in his enterprise. Under these circumstances
one can sympathise with Gen Stanley McChrystal and other
commanders because their projections and commitments made to
the US Senate are going up in smoke. The US is severely
handicapped and cannot do much without support from the Afghan
national forces.
What are the implications of this change for Pakistan?
Evidently it has put pressure on Pakistan to begin operations
in North Waziristan. Secondly, Karzai's reliance on Pakistan
has increased because he needs help for finding a solution in
Afghanistan.
This also temporarily improves Pakistan's strategic position.
If Karzai wants Pakistani assistance he has to distance
himself from the Indians. As a matter of fact the resignation
of Saleh suits the ISI very well as it considered him to be
pro-Indian and one of India's supporters in the ongoing
conflict in Fata and parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and
Balochistan.
Moreover, it is clear that Mr Karzai needs political capital
to influence the hostile forces in Afghanistan; with US power
compromised, his only insurance from now till 2011 when US
forces are likely to be reduced will be Pakistan.
This new scenario creates an opportunity for Pakistan. For one
there is going to be no North Waziristan operation as there is
no longer any point in confronting the Haqqani network when
conditions in Kandahar and southern Afghanistan are calm.
In Pakistan the military will have more freedom to operate
against our homegrown insurgency. However, this will be a wild
goose chase since we have not instituted reforms to benefit
from such operations once the terrorists have been removed.
We have been woefully myopic about our strategy. Even after
eight years of hard fighting we are none the wiser in our
approach. Our governance remains terrible. Although we blame
the terrorists for our misfortune yet we overlook the
destruction caused to our people by collateral death and
destruction of property. As our political and bureaucratic
elite retire behind bomb-proof walls the field has been left
open to criminals and the illegal activities of police
including staged executions that are increasing daily.
Does it really matter to a poor, impoverished and disempowered
Pakistani whether he loses his life to a terrorist strike or
to state terrorism? Not really. The result is rising hate and
prayers for punishment upon those who fail to protect the poor
and weak.
A recent report by the Swiss Agency for Development
Cooperation finds that 48 per cent of Pakistanis are suffering
from food insecurity. According to another report recently
published there has been a 10 per cent decline in wheat
consumption as compared to a year ago. It means that the
personal income of a substantial number of Pakistanis is
declining since wheat is easily available in the market. This
is a harrowing snapshot and should jerk our leaders into
action.
The situation is worse in Fata and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa because
of the high poverty levels. Obviously, these outcomes are not
the result of terrorists but our own inability to govern
effectively. This analysis poses questions. Who in the eyes of
the public is a greater threat to their lives - the terrorist
or the state?
In order to win the initiative, urgent reforms are needed. In
many ways we continue to be entangled in the mantra of the
post-colonial model of development that seeks to transform
societies into modern states by channelling investments into
education, health and other basic needs.
In a state like ours, that has lost the trust of its
citizenry, the priority must shift for at least the next two
years towards social-protection governance and strategic
communication. Although new opportunities are available
because of Karzai's manouevre, we will only benefit if we are
able to capitalise on it quickly.
The writer is a former chief secretary of Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa.
Our pumpkins
and pecans
Our political leadership's lust for power and wealth can
lead to disasters, but those who cause such disasters
escape unscathed. Unlike the famous figures of tragedy,
our leaders just move on to greener pastures, on leave
with pay.
Mir Adnan Aziz
In
ancient times kings were considered gods. Leaders by
birth, they had absolute power and control over the lives
of the ruled. We vote ours into office, a tragedy.
President Zardari assumed office with the country in a
mess. The choice was to take on the constellation of
entrenched interest groups or replace them with a "better"
one: the king went for the latter.
One reason for lack of interest in exploring the tragic
side of our politics is that the nemesis is ever-elusive.
Our political leadership's lust for power and wealth can
lead to disasters, but those who cause such disasters
escape unscathed.
Unlike the famous figures of tragedy, our leaders just
move on to greener pastures, on leave with pay. It is
always history that is supposed to judge them. They remain
unaccountable.
Many draw a parallel between President Zardari's latest
oratory and the Sack of Ilium. Gaius Suetonius says in The
Twelve Caesars: "Nero watched the conflagration from the
tower of Maecenas (in our case, the President's House),
enraptured by what he called 'the beauty of the flames';
then put on his tragedian's costume and sang 'The Sack of
Ilium' (at Naudero) from beginning to end.
He offered to remove corpses and rubble free of charge,
but allowed nobody to search among the ruins (Liaquat Bagh),
even of his own mansion; he wanted to collect as much loot
and spoils as possible himself. Then he opened a
fire-relief fund and insisted on contributions [from the
IMF], which bled the provincials white and practically
beggared all private citizens."
The presidential "pardon" of Rehman Malik and Riaz Sheikh
epitomises the moral dichotomy we face. The pardon is an
instrument of justice to ensure that a person is not
punished more than he deserves. When it is used so that a
person escapes the punishment he deserves, it becomes an
immoral instrument of injustice.
This reminds one of Bush, millions perished due to his
gung-ho policies. The disaster-master pardoned two White
House turkeys, Pumpkin and Pecan, at an elaborate Rose
Garden ceremony. These turkeys were spared the roasting
pans for a Thanksgiving dinner, put up for a night at the
opulently luxurious Willard Intercontinental Hotel in
Washington, DC. After the overnight stay they were flown
first-class to Disneyland, aboard a flight Bush dubbed as
"Turkey One," to be Grand Marshals at the park's
Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Reportedly, during his recent jaunt to New York, President
Zardari stayed in the presidential suite of Roosevelt
Hotel. The four-bedroom suite costs $6,000 per night. He
also reportedly stayed at a $5000 per night Willard
Intercontinental Hotel suite (boasting of Pumpkin and
Pecan on their guest list!).
How can an administration always on the lookout for alms
be so callously indifferent in its spending ways?
Meanwhile, a rickshaw driver poisoned his wife, three
children and himself. He could not pay off the lease of
his bread-earning rickshaw and his children, position
holders in school, were expelled for his inability to pay
school fees. The contrast between the rulers and the ruled
is obscenely gruesome.
At the heart of the problem lies a corrupt and tarnished
political system. Talking of Roman emperors, Caligula
showed his contempt for Rome by torturing citizens and
appointing a horse to the Senate; we have fake
degree-holders. Insecurity, impoverishment and a host of
other maladies are the monsters the government needs to
fight. What we have, instead, is a multimillion-rupee
strategy to take over the Supreme Court Bar Association
and the media.
The opposition has failed miserably and missed the chance
to bring about real change. Its leaders have become
partners in this game while the people are fed up with
empty political rhetoric and that occasional "roar"
emanating from Jatti Umrah. Our political elite have
encouraged an obsession with personalities and martyrdom
politics as potential salvation hence creating a zero-sum
game.
The past cannot be undone. But the future can be
different, accomplished through understanding and
acknowledging the mistakes of the past and accountability
for those who committed them. Accountability for the past
is policy for the future.
The writer is a freelance contributor. Email:
miradnanaziz@gmail.com
China's
welcome move
"China's readiness for further exchange rate reform is
just what is needed," said Mike Lenhoff, chief strategist
at Brewin Dolphin."
Nick Fletcher
China's
decision to make its currency more flexible gave a lift to
stock markets around the world on hopes that the move
would help the recovery in the global economy.
Ahead of this week's G20 meetings, China has moved to
defuse criticism that pegging the yuan against the dollar
- a move made two years ago at
the height of the credit crunch - undervalued the Chinese
currency and gave the country's exporters an
unfair advantage against rivals, particularly the US.
China indicated on Saturday that it would give more
flexibility to the exchange rate, although it stopped
short of promising a full revaluation. There was a mixed
reaction from the US, with some senators suggesting the
gradual approach did not go far enough and G20 ministers
indicating they wanted more detail as to how the Chinese
proposals would work.
However, Jon Huntsman, the US ambassador to China,
welcomed the move as a genuine step towards currency
reform. He told Reuters: "I think it takes an irritant off
the table in the US-China relationship."
The move was backed up by the Chinese central bank
allowing the yuan to rise by nearly 0.5 per cent against
the dollar. Stock markets welcomed the prospect of a
sustained increase in the yuan, which could boost
purchasing power and demand in the world's third largest
economy.
"China's readiness for further exchange rate reform is
just what is needed," said Mike Lenhoff, chief strategist
at Brewin Dolphin."It provides another means of reflation
for the global economy. The strengthening exchange rate
could also turn the Chinese into major global corporate
acquisition merchants. More great news for equity
markets."
The FTSE 100 ended nearly one per cent higher, while Wall
Street was up more than 100 points - a one per cent gain -
by the time London closed. Overnight the Nikkei 225 had
risen 2.5 per cent, while European markets were also
higher.
David Buik at BGC Partners said: "We should be under no
illusions that this agreement to eventually revalue the
yuan has been done for domestic reasons, with inflation
now above three per cent and first-quarter GDP reaching
11.9 per cent."
Viewpoints
McChrystal shot himself in the foot
Nato’s top
commander may be an able general - but as a
soldier-politician, he's a MacArthur-sized disaster.
Simon Tisdall
The
Afghan pressure cooker, that great reducer of reputations, may
have consumed its most senior victim with Tuesday's ominous
White House summons to US General Stanley McChrystal to
explain mocking comments about Barack Obama and his top
advisers. Like an erring schoolboy up before the beak, Nato's
top commander in Afghanistan will be asked to demonstrate to
Obama, in person, why he should not be expelled. It could be a
tough sell.
Politically speaking, Obama would probably be ill-advised to
sack the general. McChrystal was, after all, Obama's choice
after he fired his predecessor, the able General David
McKiernan, for reasons of expediency. A high-level rift with
the top brass would not only intensify doubts about Obama's
conduct of the war as it reaches a critical juncture. It would
also revive questions, constantly recycled by Republican
opponents, about his fitness to be commander-in-chief.
That said, from a personal point of view Obama may be severely
tempted to give McChrystal the bum's rush. It's not the first
time the two men have crossed swords. They have a history.
Last autumn, while Obama was agonising over his seemingly
interminable Afghan strategy review, McChrystal pre-empted the
White House by allowing his own assessment of the war effort
to be published.
McChrystal's analysis was grim. The war could be lost, he
warned, unless a big new effort was undertaken including the
deployment of 40,000 additional combat troops in tandem with a
"civilian surge" in diplomatic and financial assistance. In a
series of interviews, he said half measures would not work.
"You can't hope to contain the fire by letting just half the
building burn." His outspokenness was seen as a brash bid to
force Obama's hand.
This extraordinarily public policy tussle came to a head in
London in October when McChrystal addressed the International
Institute for Strategic Studies. Rejecting the "containment"
policy option favoured by Vice-President Joe Biden, he said
such an approach would produce "Chaos-istan" and he would not
support it. The US needed to escalate militarily, adopt his
counterinsurgency strategy, and hurry up about it.
Obama reacted by carpeting McChrystal in a hastily convened,
face-to-face meeting aboard Air Force One. In the event, the
president went along with the main thrust of McChrystal's
recommendations, agreeing to send 30,000 more troops. But a
lack of empathy, and possibly trust, between the two men and
their respective camps had been clearly established. They did
not get on and the relationship was not to improve in the
months that followed.
Principal targets
In January a row erupted over leaked cable written by the US
ambassador to Kabul, Karl Eikenberry, in which he, like Biden,
argued against the surge. Eikenberry and Biden are two
principal targets for disparagement in Rolling Stone
magazine's report. But James Jones, Obama's national security
adviser, Richard Holbrooke, his special envoy, and
unidentified "wimps in the White House" also get it in the
neck. McChrystal is said by aides to be personally
"disappointed" in Obama.
Banter or not, this amounts to jaw-dropping lse majest from
the retinue of what sounds like a pretender with imperial
delusions. McChrystal may be an able general, a special-forces
guru at his best when up against a wall. But as a
soldier-politician, he's a MacArthur-sized disaster. Such
words cannot be unsaid, however many apologies are forthcoming
and once mutual confidence is lost, it will be almost
impossible to regain.
The extreme pressure under which McChrystal and his retinue
operate, day in, day out, may be the most plausible
explanation for their behaviour. The general opposed Obama's
decision to set a July 2011 timeline for the start of an
Afghan drawdown. The Pentagon is also uncomfortable with yet
another White House policy review due in December, with
General David Petraeus, McChrystal's superior, last week
downplaying its significance. Both decisions have complicated
his task.
Actual or planned operations in the south, notably in Marja
and Kandahar, have not gone as well or as swiftly as expected,
as McChrystal recently conceded. Casualties, civilian and
military, are rising. Afghan President Hamid Karzai has not
been as supportive as the Nato allies would like, with some
former ministers suggesting he no longer believes a military
solution is attainable. And McChrystal knows support is fading
at home. This month, when Afghanistan officially became
America's longest war, an ABC News/Washington Post poll found
53 per cent of Americans believed the conflict was not worth
fighting.
But in the end, McChrystal can only blame himself, not the
mission, for his difficulties. An austere, self-denying, shy
and almost ascetic man with a wild and violent past,
McChrystal close up has something of the Spartan about him.
Perhaps he and his raucous, loose-talking aides identify in
some way with the doomed defenders at Thermopylae. But King
Leonidas he ain't, as Obama is about to make plain.
Central
Asia’s identity crisis
Independence came entirely unexpectedly for these
republics, leaving them unprepared to cope with the new
problems created by independence and the need for new
policies in nearly every area of life.
Dr Azmat Hayat Khan
Until
the Soviet period, Central Asia had never been possessed
by Czarist Russia. The various states and entities of the
region had long consisted of loose and shifting alliances
of tribal groupings. The names attached to them did not
represent nations but rather were drawn from several key
tribal designations like Uzbek, Kirghiz, etc. Only a rough
effort was made to include a major part of each tribal
grouping within the boundaries of each new republic. In
fact, they were created primarily as a mechanism of divide
and rule. The boundaries were not clearly fixed and all of
Central Asia was divisible into two primary culture types,
namely a nomadic culture, which comprises particularly the
Turkoman, Kazakhs and Kirghiz, and the urban culture,
based on twin pillars of Turkic governmental
administrative and military institutions and the Persian
literary and artistic culture.
Today, with the collapse of the empire, the question of
identity ranks high on the list of critical questions the
Central Asian Republics (CARs) are facing. The vast
majority of CARs is, of course, Muslim and the Muslim
identity has been paramount for well over a millennium.
Ethnically, they are Turks, i.e. members of a broader
ethnic group that stretches from Yugoslavia to Mongolia,
dominated today by the dynamic state of Turkey.
Thus, most Central Asians have a reason to be confused by
the overlapping aspects that one's identity may take, many
of which have become politically permissible only in the
past few years. These problems do not leave leaders much
time to think about the longer-range course of Central
Asian development. Thus, the process seems to be
developing organically rather than by any blueprint drawn
up at leisure by visionary statesmen and thinkers.
Today, the power elites of these republics have much to
lose from any willing cession of national sovereignty to
other republics. Over time, further grievances, both
economic and ethnic, have developed among them, stemming
in part from the arbitrary borders that split ethnic
groups among these republics. While minority-majority
frictions within any single republic further aggravate the
tension, rivalry exists for leadership among the
republics, particularly between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
And the smaller republics fear the influence of the
ethnically and culturally powerful Uzbeks as well as the
economic power of the Kazakhs.
It was because of these very underlying reasons that
large-scale riots broke out in the small Central Asian
state Kyrgyzstan, in which tens of thousand of opposition
supporters took to the streets storming big government
buildings and eventually taking the presidential building
and parliament in April this year. In southern Kyrgyzstan,
two well-armed communities, Kyrgyz and Uzbek, live in
close proximity, angry and scared. The crisis took the
shape of riots and consequently the interim government was
put under pressure mainly by the supporters of the
ex-president, causing a lot of Uzbeks to flee to
Uzbekistan.
A few days prior to the crisis in Kyrgyzstan, Turkey
hosted the summit of a regional organisation dedicated to
increase security in Asia, including representatives from
Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, which was overshadowed by the
flotilla crisis. The recent crisis in Kyrgyzstan is
testimony to the absence of Turkey in this critical
geography. However, Turkish experts who monitor the region
closely knew that a bigger crisis was coming in that
ex-Soviet republic. Perhaps people feel that a power
vacuum in a country that few people could find on the map
is no big deal, but they were proved wrong.
Observing that the situation in Kyrgyzstan is tense,
especially along the Uzbek-Kyrgyz border, the US is in
touch with several countries in the region including
Russia and sees it as an emerging humanitarian crisis in
this Central Asian republic.
Washington is obsessed with Afghanistan, and though the
Americans have a major base in Kyrgyzstan at Manas, they
seem disinclined to do very much. They may have given up
hope for the base, but they are clearly not interested in
getting involved with Kyrgyzstan's police and military,
which they seem to regard as feckless at best.
Russia views Central Asia as its backyard, but it has no
interest in cleaning up this particular bit of it. Moscow
is not enthused that the provisional government, for all
its many failings, talks of building a multiparty
democracy. Kyrgyzstan does not have the abundance of
natural resources that make its neighbours so attractive
or 'strategic' to the outside world.
Kyrgyzstan is a major stop on the drug road from
Afghanistan. Much of Afghanistan's opiates are trucked and
flown in to the south of Kyrgyzstan. The chances are, in
fact, that drug dealers have been active in the violence.
Much of the drugs move straight to Russia, which already
has an enormous problem both with drugs and intravenously
transmitted HIV/AIDS, and to China, which is developing
the same problem.
Southern Kyrgyzstan is also a transit route for another
commodity the West fears most - the Islamist fighters.
They move to and from Afghanistan, on their way to
Uzbekistan just across the border, but also to Western
Europe. It is already a comfortable stop along their long
march. A country without a government will make for an
even friendlier environment.
The water problem in the CARs is also quite severe. These
states inherited the water resources of the Aral Basin,
which is an arid and semi-arid area, with low rainfall,
especially limited in downstream countries. The region
suffers tensions over water use between the upstream
countries of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, and their
downstream neighbours Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan.
Afghanistan is also an upstream country for the region.
The region's stress is likely to worsen, if Afghanistan's
internal political and military conflict diminishes and
the country begins to develop.
The CARs are currently undergoing a period of
extraordinarily rapid and profound change. In many
republics there is a more open press, several political
parties have formed and all are embarked on a gradual
transition from a command administrative economy to a free
market. The CARs are also undergoing a special identity
crisis. These republics are, therefore, likely to
experience even more profound change and dislocation than
most other regions of the old Soviet Union.
Independence came entirely unexpectedly for these
republics, leaving them unprepared to cope with the new
problems created by independence and the need for new
policies in nearly every area of life.
The writer is vice chancellor, University of Peshawar,
and former director of Area Study Centre, University of
Peshawar.
A world of happiness
You can be dirt poor, like Bhutan, and still rank high in
happiness. You can also be relatively prosperous but
miserable, like Latvians, who are less happy than
Ethiopians or Palestinians.
Gwynne Dyer
There
can be few things less useful than a "world map of
happiness". If you live in one of the unhappy places,
there is little chance that you will be able to move to
one of the happy ones, and anyway, there's no way of
knowing whether immigrants are happy there. Besides, our
personal capacity for happiness is largely hard wired by
our genetic heritage and early childhood experiences.
But there are always under-employed sociologists,
psychologists and economists looking for something new to
research. There is also a permanent over-supply of
journalists at their wits' end for something to write
about.
Despite Israel's effort to fill the whole news cycle
single-handed, this has been a slow week for news, so let
us consider the global distribution of happiness (or
"subjective well-being" as the social psychologists call
it).
The Satisfaction with Life Index, to give the world
happiness map its proper name, does not measure objective
conditions like gross domestic product per capita or
average life expectancy. You can be dirt poor, like
Bhutan, and still rank high in happiness. You can also be
relatively prosperous but miserable, like Latvians, who
are less happy than Ethiopians or Palestinians.
The old Human Development Index, dating back to 1990,
tells us who should be happy, if income, lifespan and
educational level were really the main determinants of
happiness. Unsurprisingly, this yields a list that ranks
countries pretty much in strict order of GDP per capita.
For those who care about the environment, there is also
the Happy Planet Index, launched in 2006, which measures
"the production of human well-being (not necessarily
material goods) per unit of extraction of or imposition
upon nature". In other words, if your well being comes at
a high environmental cost, you drop down on the list.
On this index, the developed countries do not do so well,
for their prosperity comes at a high environmental cost:
the United States drops from No. 13 on the Human
Development Index to No. 150 on the Happy Planet Index.
But that index is really measuring the "happiness" of the
ecosphere, as if the planet itself were capable of
happiness.
Adrian White's Satisfaction with Life Index, however, is
focused on what people actually feel about their lives -
and he cunningly avoided the nuisance of sending out
80,000 questionnaires to people all over the world.
White, a social psychologist, at the University of
Leicester, did a "meta-analysis" of other global surveys,
by the World Health Organisation, UNESCO, and half a dozen
other organisations, and extracted the data for his own
index. They were the ones who actually sent out the 80,000
questionnaires, and White did not compose their questions
himself. So you may want to take his results with a grain
of salt - but they are interesting nevertheless.
The most striking result is that all the top 20 countries
in terms of happiness are relatively small: the biggest,
at Number 10, is Canada, which has only 33 million people.
All Scandinavian countries are there, of course, but so
are Antigua, Bhutan, Costa Rica and the Seychelles. All 20
are democracies.
The saddest countries on the list, numbers 176, 177 and
178, are the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zimbabwe
and Burundi. Indeed, there's not a single country in
Africa that counts as happy.
Russia and the other countries that used to be part of the
Soviet Union are all mired in the "slough of despond".
Japan, surprisingly, ties with Yemen, an almost-failed
state, in the happiness stakes.
Among the big developed countries, the United States
places just outside the top 20, at No. 23, well ahead of
other rich countries like Germany, Britain, Spain, Italy
and France. Bangladeshis are happier than Indians and much
happier than Pakistanis. Malaysians are the happiest
people in Asia, Venezuelans are the happiest people in
South America, and the Gulf states from Oman to Kuwait are
the happiest countries in the Middle East.
White did his major work in 2007, so some of the rankings
may have changed since then. Icelanders, for example, may
be pretty unhappy since their banks and their currency
collapsed. Sri Lankans may be cheering up now that their
long civil war is over. Iranians were not happy even
before last year's upheavals, but they are probably even
less so now.
Health and wealth make some difference in how happy
countries are, but they are certainly not decisive, and
some other measures that are normally thought to matter
don't seem to count at all.
The United States, for example, has the greatest
inequality of income amongst the big developed countries,
but Americans are happy people - maybe because their
national mythology tells them that they all have "equality
of opportunity".
The size of government doesn't make much difference
either, as long as it is competent. Denmark is the classic
welfare state, with the government spending 52 per cent of
GDP, while the Swiss government only spends 33 per cent of
national income. Yet they are virtually tied for first
place in the happiness index.
Never mind. If you think statistics like these can tell
you anything useful that direct observation and common
sense won't, you're crazy. Still, if that makes you
happy....
The writer is a London-based independent journalist
whose articles are published in 45 countries.
International
Indian, Pakistani
diplomats pledge to improve relations
Dawn Online
Top Indian and Pakistani diplomats pledged Thursday to
strive for sustained dialogue to get the nations' fragile
relations back on track and deny militants space to derail
the reconciliation process.
India's top foreign ministry civil servant, Nirupama Rao,
and her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir held
one-on-one talks and met with their teams to craft the
agenda for a meeting of their ministers on July 15.
"Pakistan and India should work towards restoring
confidence and building trust with a view to making it
possible to have a comprehensive, sustained and meaningful
dialogue," Bashir told a joint news conference with Rao.
"After this engagement, I feel much more optimistic about
a good outcome at the ministerial level and good prospects
for the two countries in terms of our relationship."
Indian and Pakistani foreign ministers S.M. Krishna and
Shah Mehmood Qureshi are scheduled to meet in Islamabad on
July 15 - the third major contact in six months between
countries that have fought three wars in 60 years.
A Pakistani anti-terrorism court has charged seven
suspects in connection with the Mumbai attacks, including
alleged mastermind Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and alleged LeT
operative Zarar Shah, but Pakistan has said it needs more
evidence. Rao said India had raised concerns about
terrorism and said the countries had to work together to
deny militants the opportunity to sabotage their dialogue.
"We should jointly work together towards our goal of
resolution of outstanding issues and also to dealing with
the dangers, with the threat, with the evils of
terrorism," she said.
"We must deny terrorist elements any opportunity to derail
the process of improvement of relations between our two
countries.
"We owe it to our people to chart a way forward, to narrow
differences and ensure collaborative engagement."
Thursday's meeting was the first meeting in Islamabad
between the foreign secretaries since May 2008.
Indian Home Minister P. Chidambaram is due to arrive in
Islamabad for a meeting of the South Asian Association for
Regional Cooperation on Thursday. He is expected to meet
Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik.
Some analysts warned that the best outcome of Thursday's
talks would merely be more talks and not a resumption of
the peace process.
"I don't expect much from these talks unless India is
prepared to talk about issues other than terrorism,"
Pakistani analyst Hasan Askari told AFP.
"Therefore the talks may not produce anything significant
which means resumption of comprehensive talks between
India and Pakistan," he said.
Afghan strategy ‘not
changing’ after McChrystal fired: Obama
BBC Online
US and Nato strategy in Afghanistan will not be affected
by the sacking of the top US military commander there, US
President Barack Obama has said.
Obama said there was a "change in personnel but not a
change in policy".
Gen Stanley McChrystal was forced to step down following
critical comments about senior administration officials.
The UK's Lt Gen Nick Parker has taken interim command of
Nato's Afghan forces until US Gen David Petraeus is
confirmed by Congress.
Gen Petraeus was the architect of the troop "surge" in
Iraq. Other Western powers engaged in fighting Afghan
insurgents also insisted that strategy would not change.
Nato Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said that
although Gen McChrystal would no longer command
multi-national forces in Afghanistan, "the approach he
helped put in place is the right one". "The strategy
continues to have Nato's support, and our troops will
continue to carry it out," he said in a statement.
In another development, Western news agencies reported
that June had become the deadliest month for foreign
troops in the Afghan war. The Associated Press counted 80
deaths, including those of four Nato personnel killed in a
vehicle accident in the south on Wednesday. A US military
spokesman told the agency the four were not Americans,
without giving their nationality.
The current counter-insurgency strategy in Afgh-anistan,
put in place by Gen McChrystal, is a combination of
increased troop numbers, greater protection for civilians
and more responsibility for Afghans.
Gen McChrystal's dismissal has not altered his rank but
his future in the Pentagon is unclear, the New York Times
reports.
US and Nato forces are engaged in a key operation against
the Taliban in and around the southern city and province
of Kandahar.
Gen McChrystal said earlier this month that the Kandahar
operation would move more slowly than planned in order to
ensure the support of local people. The US strategy also
envisages foreign troop numbers in the country peaking at
150,000 by August. In a profile in Rolling Stone magazine,
Gen McChrystal and his aides were quoted making
disparaging remarks about Obama and senior US officials.
Gen McChrystal described the period last year when
President Obama slowly moved towards approving the
deployment of thousands more US soldiers to Afghanistan as
"painful".
And referring to a key Oval Office meeting between Obama
and Gen McChrystal a year ago, an aide of Gen McChrystal
said the president "didn't seem very engaged. The boss
[Gen McChrystal] was pretty disappointed".
The announcement that Gen McChrystal was standing down
came after he met Obama at the White House on Wednesday to
discuss the damaging article.
Obama said he had made the decision to replace Gen
McChrystal "with considerable regret" but added that he
had failed to "meet the standard that should be set by a
commanding general".
Dismay in Kabul over
McChrystal sacking
AFP, Kabul
The dismissal of NATO commander General Stanley McChrystal
was greeted with dismay in Kabul where Afghans and foreign
diplomats praised his bold efforts to change the course of
the war.
But the Taliban vowed the change in command would not halt
their fight against foreign troops, as NATO marked a grim
milestone with June becoming the deadliest month for its
soldiers since the war began almost nine years ago.
McChrystal's counter-insurgency strategy, which brought
sweeping changes aimed at cutting civilian casualties and
winning over the population, had been credited with
bringing some order to a chaotic and spriralling conflict.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai's government had publicly
urged the White House not to remove McChrystal over
disparaging remarks he made about officials in US
President Barack Obama's administration in a Rolling Stone
profile.
A spokesman for Karzai-whose relations with the White
House have been troubled-praised McChrystal as a "trusted
partner of the Afghan people" and said his removal would
"not be helpful" at this critical juncture.
Spokesman Waheed Omar, speaking before McChrystal's
removal on Wednesday, said Kabul believed the US general
had made a mistake but it should not detract from the
urgency of trying to bring peace and stability to
Afghanistan.
However the Afghan government later said it respected
Obama's decision and welcomed the appointment of David
Petraeus, the general credited with changing the direction
of the Iraq conflict, to succeed McChrystal.
"His replacement General David Petraeus is someone who
knows Afghanistan, who knows the region very well and is
an experienced general," said Karzai's spokesman Waheed
Omar. "We are looking forward to working with him." US
Senator Carl Levin, who heads the Senate Armed Services
Committee, said lawmakers were working to organise a
confirmation hearing on Petraeus's nomination no later
than next Tuesday.
Myanmar sees ‘dramatic’
surge in drug production: UN
AFP, Bangkok
Drug production has surged in Myanmar, a UN expert said
Thursday, particularly in areas where rebel ethnic groups
are coming under increased pressure from the junta ahead
of rare elections.
Seizures of methamphetamine in the military-ruled country
have risen from one million tablets in 2008 to 23 million
last year, said Gary Lewis, a representative for the UN
Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
The country has also experienced a "steep and dramatic"
increase in opium cultivation, with 31,700 hectares
(78,300 acres) of land set aside for illicit poppy growing
last year, up by almost half since 2006.
This is still only a small fraction of the levels seen in
the late 1990s, when Myanmar, as part of the so-called
Golden Triangle with Laos and Thailand, produced nearly
half of the world's opiates. "We are in a situation where
we are at risk of having the situation unravel," Lewis
told reporters in Bangkok.
Drug production is thought to be fuelled by insurgent
groups as well as by the chronic poverty and food
shortages facing many communities.
Lewis said both poppy cultivation and the huge hauls of
methamphetamine were concentrated in Myanmar's Shan State
and represent "a nexus of money, weapons and drugs".
Some minority groups are believed to be cashing in on
drugs amid an increasing sense of vulnerability in the
run-up to Myanmar's first elections in two decades.
Armed minorities in Shan and Karen states continue to
fight the government along the country's eastern border,
alleging they are victims of neglect and mistreatment.
Myanmar's military regime has stepped up its decades-long
campaign against minority groups as it strives to bring
them to heel ahead of the polls, planned for sometime this
year.
Critics have declared the election a sham due to laws that
have effectively barred opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi
from participating.
S.Lanka to block visits by
UN panel probing war allegations
AFP, Colombo
Sri Lanka will ban visits by the United Nations panel
investigating alleged human rights abuses in the final
months of the island's civil war, a senior minister said
Thursday.
Troops finally wiped out the separatist Tamil Tiger
guerrillas in May last year after decades of ethnic
bloodshed, and the government has denied repeated
allegations that thousands of civilians were killed in the
fighting. "We will not issue them with visas. We will not
allow them into this country," External Affairs Minister
Gamini Lakshman Peiris told reporters.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's appointment on Tuesday
of the three-member panel to advise on any violations of
international human rights was "totally unnecessary,"
Peiris said. He said Sri Lanka had announced its own
commission into the end of the war and post-conflict
ethnic reconciliation.
Malaysia opposition
plans mass protest over gambling plan
AFP, Kuala Lumpur
Opposition political parties plan a mass street protest
next month against a proposal to legalise sports betting
which they fear will create more social ills, a party
official said Thursday.
Supporters of a new licence for sports betting argue that
it will add billions of dollars to government coffers, but
critics have warned it will lead to an array of problems
in mainly Muslim Malaysia. "We have too many social
problems-drug addiction, free sex and baby dumping," said
Kamarulzaman Mohamad, youth secretary of the conservative
Pan-Malaysia Islamic Party (PAS). "Sports betting will add
to our problems as most youths watch football. They will
be influenced to borrow money," he told AFP.
He said the opposition political parties will organise a
mass protest march to the palace on July 3 to deliver a
memorandum to the king against the new gaming licence.
Malaysia bans its majority Muslims from gambling but
allows betting at a casino operated by Genting Group, on
the national lottery and on horse-racing. "There are
already too many lottery draws in the country," veteran
opposition lawmaker Lim Kit Siang told AFP.
The debate over sports betting erupted after Ascot Sports,
a company controlled by influential tycoon Vincent Tan,
said in May it has been granted a licence that will allow
it to offer odds in time for the hugely popular English
Premier League season. Prime Minister Najib Razak said on
Saturday however that no licence has been issued to the
company and leaders of his ruling United Malays National
Organisation (UMNO) party remain divided over the issue.
"After hearing the voices of grassroot supporters... UMNO
Youth's position is that we oppose the gaming licence,"
Khairy Jamaluddin, the head of the powerful youth wing of
UMNO, told state news agency Bernama. Information,
Communications and Culture Minister Rais Yatim said
however that the sports betting licence would boost
revenue and could weed out illegal gambling.
Former premier Mahathir Mohamad said he supported the
awarding of the licence since non-Muslims are not banned
from betting.
"Why should we restrict people from doing other things
that are not against their religion?" he said.
Berjaya, the property-to-gaming group which has a 70
percent state in Ascot Sports, has said the illegal sports
betting market in Malaysia was worth as much as 20 billion
ringgit (six billion US dollars) a year.
More rains lash flood-hit
south China
AFP, Beijing
Heavy rains lashed south China Thursday as the government
set up emergency reponse headquarters to combat floods and
landslides that have killed over 200 people and forced
millions to evacuate.
The scale of the disaster prompted Chinese Premier Wen
Jiabao to fly to hard-hit Jiangxi province to inspect
rescue and relief operations-his second visit to a
flood-hit area in one week, state radio reported. State
television showed images of indoor stadiums filled with
adults and children forced from their homes, and soldiers
were seen patrolling in boats and evacuating people
trapped on rooftops and trees surrounded by flood waters.
The state meteorological bureau warned that more rains
were due to hit five provinces and regions in southern
China in the coming days, as water levels on many rivers
surpassed historic highs.
Up to 196 millimetres (eight inches) of rain fell on parts
of Jiangxi and neighbouring Fujian province during a
24-hour period starting Tuesday, the Ministry of Civil
Affairs said, warning of landslides and mudflows.
More than 15,000 soldiers have been dispatched to hard-hit
areas to help in rescue operations, while militias aided
in the evacuation of over 75,000 people in Jiangxi after a
dyke burst on the Fuhe river, it added.
An army of over 2.6 million people in the province were
shoring up river and reservoir dykes in an effort to avert
further disaster, the official Xinhua news agency said.
The disaster, which has hit 10 southern and central
Chinese provinces or regions, has caused an estimated 43
billion yuan (six billion dollars) of economic losses and
displaced 2.4 million people since June 13.
Pakistan’s court jails five
Americans for terrorism
AFP, Sargodha
A Pakistani court on Thursday sentenced five Americans to
10 years in jail each after finding them guilty of waging
war against the state and funding a terrorist group,
lawyers said.
The five, aged 19 to 25, had been on trial in a closed
court in a prison in the eastern city of Sargodha since
March. The judge found them guilty of two charges, but
acquitted them of three others.
In a mostly secret trial, each defendant was handed
concurrent sentences of 10 and five years and fined 70,000
rupees (820 dollars).
Both the defence and the prosecution vowed to appeal. Rana
Bakhtiar, deputy prosecutor general for the Punjab
provincial government, said he would appeal for 20-year
sentences.
The Americans-of Egyptian, Eritrean, Pakistani and Yemeni
descent-were arrested in December in Sargodha on charges
of plotting a terrorist attack.
Umar Farooq, Waqar Hussain, Rami Zamzam, Ahmad Abdullah
Mini and Amman Hassan Yammer had faced a maximum
punishment of life in prison.
"For criminal conspiracy they were sentenced to 10 years
in prison plus 50,000 rupees' fine," defence lawyer Hassan
Katchela told AFP. "For funding a banned terrorist
organisation they were imprisoned for five years each plus
20,000 rupees' fine."
Defence lawyers and the prosecution said the clause
included "waging war against Pakistan". Pakistani
officials have said the young men planned to travel to
neighbouring Afghanistan and join up with Taliban-led
militants fighting US and NATO troops.
Medvedev
visit showcases warmer US-Russia ties
AFP, Washington
President Barack Obama welcomes Russian counterpart Dmitry
Medvedev to the White House Thursday amid improved recent
relations, including a landmark nuclear disarmament deal
and greater diplomatic cooperation.
Medvedev's three-day visit-the seventh meeting between the
two leaders-aims to further improve US-Russia ties and
strengthen cooperation on economic issues and new
technology.
The Russian leader got his first taste of American
high-tech savvy with a visit Wednesday as he toured the
headquarters of Twitter and other Internet stars, as part
of his mission to create a Russian version of Silicon
Valley.
Ben Rhodes, a spokesman for the White House national
security adviser, told reporters that the Medvedev visit
showcases "very substantial progress in re-setting the
US-Russia relationship in a number of important and very
substantive areas." "We believe that this visit takes
place at a new phase in the US-Russia relations," Rhodes
said.
April's long-awaited Cold War-era nuclear disarmament
treaty signed in Prague signaled something of a
renaissance in US-Russian relations, and Rhodes said
closer ties are in the interest of both countries.
"The president's assessment was that when you stack up
America's national security priorities-non-proliferation,
Iran, North Korea, terrorism, Afghanistan-we had both much
to gain from cooperating with Russia," he said.
Obama, Rhodes said, "set out a very deliberate and
aggressive way, to make it a top foreign policy for his
administration to reset this relationship." Cooperation
increasingly has extended to the thorny area of crafting
an international response to Iran's controversial nuclear
program.
After months of US-led diplomacy, Russia this month backed
a new UN Security Council resolution imposing sanctions
against Tehran over its nuclear program.
Russia's deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, said
earlier this month however that Moscow was disappointed by
additional US and EU unilateral measures against Iran,
warning the moves could affect cooperation in the nuclear
crisis. Economic relations also are to play a key role
during the Medvedev visit.
The Russian leader, who arrived in California late
Tuesday, first stopped off in Silicon Valley, the
birthplace of the high-tech revolution.
Mass strike against
pension reform hits France
AFP, Paris
A mass strike against the French government's plan to
raise the retirement age disrupted transport and shut down
schools on Thursday, with unions hoping to get millions of
protestors into the streets.
Among the disruptions for commuters in cities across
France, transport authorities said about one in two
mainline trains were running in and out of Paris, with
three in four Paris metro trains operating.
The DGAC airport authority said 15 percent of flights
would have to be cancelled between 7:00 am and 2:00 pm
(0500 and 1200 GMT) from Paris's main international hub
Charles de Gaulle and its other main airport, Orly.
The education ministry said 32 percent of junior school
teachers stayed away from work and 10 percent at high
schools. The teachers' union SNUipp-FSU said more than one
in two would strike and several schools were forced to
close. The government last week unveiled proposals to
raise the retirement age from 60 to 62 by 2018, increasing
the number of working years required for a state pension,
as part of efforts to cut France's big budget deficit.
Unions say the move puts an unfair burden of reform on
workers. Leaders from some of the six unions that jointly
called the strike said they planned big street
demonstrations throughout France later in the day.
"The hope was to get more than a million protestors. I
think this figure will be exceeded, that's for sure," said
Francois Chereque, leader of the CFDT union, adding that
he thought "perhaps two million" was possible. "We have
more than 200 rallies all across France and we're hearing
from the ground that there is an exceptional turnout," he
added, speaking on RTL radio. "Employees are realising
that this reform is unfair." Strikes were also called in
the postal service, gas and electricity providers and
numerous private companies.
Print workers joined in, prompting daily newspapers such
as Le Monde and Liberation to scrap their Friday editions.
Radio stations such as all-news France Info played music
to fill gaps in programming left by striking staff.
Mass protests have forced French governments to back down
on social reforms in the past, but Labour Minister Eric
Woerth said the government would not bend on raising the
retirement age.
12 killed as train
hits revelers crossing track in Spain
AFP, Castelldefels
At least 12 people died and another 13 were injured after
an intercity train slammed into a group of young revellers
crossing a railway track in northeastern Spain, officials
said Thursday.
The accident happened at around 11:30 p.m. (2130 GMT) on
Wednesday at the Castelldefels Playa station south of
Barcelona. A group of about 30 people that had gotten off
a local train attempted to cross the tracks, witnesses and
local officials said.
Many were headed to the beach for the annual San Juan
festivities, which celebrate the year's shortest night
with bonfires, fireworks and dancing, when they were
struck by another train travelling between the eastern
cities of Alicante and Barcelona. "The impact was brutal.
The sound was like that of rocks being crushed but it was
humans," Andres, who runs a supermarket at the station and
who saw the accident, told the online edition of daily
newspaper El Mundo. Three of the injured are in serious
condition, emergency services officials in the
northeastern region of Catalonia said.
Witnesses said an underground pedestrian passageway
beneath was crowded at the time of the accident, prompting
many people to opt for crossing the tracks. Some told
Spanish media that the underground passageway was too
narrow.
Castelldefels mayor Joan Sau said an elevated crosswalk
over the tracks was closed in October due to remodelling
works at the train station and it was replaced by the
underground passageway.
"If the underground passageway had been used we obviously
would not be talking about this tragedy," he told news
radio Cadena Ser.
The president of state-owned rail network Renfe, Teofilio
Serrano, said an investigation into the accident would be
opened.
"The station appears to meet all the legal norms but it is
not the moment to get into more details. There are people
who still do not know that they have lost loved ones. It
is impressive. I also have children," he told reporters
after visiting the site of the accident.
The identity of the victims was still not established but
the president of the regional government of Catalonia,
Jose Montilla, said "there are many of South American
origin".
An AFP photographer said a body and some human body parts
were visible on the tracks hours after the accident amid
dozens of police, medics, firefighters and Red Cross
workers.
Spanish radio said it was the worst rail accident in Spain
since 19 people were killed and 38 injured in a June 2003
collision between a passenger train and a freight train in
the southeastern town of Chinchilla.
Iran to declare conditions
for nuclear talks next week
AFP, Tehran
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Thursday that Iran
will next week lay down its conditions for talks with the
world powers after they imposed new UN sanctions over
Tehran's nuclear programme. "The Islamic Republic of Iran
will next week announce its conditions for negotiations
with countries who issued the sanctions resolution against
Iran," the state television website quoted Ahmadinejad as
telling a group of clerics. On June 9, the UN Security
Council imposed a fourth set of sanctions against Iran for
refusing to abandon its controversial programme of uranium
enrichment. Western powers fear Iran has a covert nuclear
weapons programme since enriched uranium can be used both
to make fuel to power nuclear reactors as well as in
manufacturing the fissile core of an atomic bomb.
Tehran insists that its nuclear ambitions are entirely
peaceful.
Soon after the sanctions resolution was passed, the world
powers and the European Union called for talks with Tehran
to resolve the issue, indicating a dual-track policy of
both sanctions and dialogue.
Ahmadinejad said the offer of talks showed that the world
powers "themselves are more afraid because soon after the
resolution they said they want talks with Iran. "Those
countries that are threatening the Iranian nation are
afraid, but Iran will neutralise their threats." The
hardline Ahmadinejad's remarks suggest that Iran's
conditions for fresh talks are likely to be tough. "They
issued the resolution and then said 'come and talk.' Very
well. We will negotiate, but in such a way that they will
regret it and not commit such a damn thing" again, the
Mehr news agency quoted him as saying.
The announcement of the UN sanctions was followed by
unilateral punitive measures from the United States and
the European Union.
Suicide bombers kill five
as 12 die in Iraq unrest
AFP, Mosul
Three suicide bombers killed four police and a soldier in
separate attacks in Iraq's main northern city of Mosul on
Thursday, as violence claimed a total of 12 lives
nationwide, police said.
Most of the attacks came in Al-Qaeda strongholds as Iraqi
and US commanders warned that a persistent political
vacuum nearly four months after an inconclusive general
election risked fanning a new upsurge in violence.
The policemen were killed when a bomber walked up to a
checkpoint in the Shifa neighbourhood in the
overwhelmingly Sunni Arab area west of Mosul and blew
himself up, also wounding four officers, police said.
Medics confirmed the casualty toll, adding that two of the
wounded were in a critical condition.
In the ethnically mixed east of the city across the River
Tigris, two suicide bombers wearing military uniforms
killed one soldier and wounded five at an army base,
commanders said. At least one bomber managed to penetrate
the base perimeter. A commander said that the other blew
himself up at the main gate, allowing his accomplice to
get inside. Another commander said that both managed to
get past the security cordon.
In another attack on a police checkpoint in west Mosul,
gunmen killed three officers on Wednesday night, police
said.
West of Mosul, in the town of Tal Afar, security forces
thwarted an attem-pted suicide bombing on Thursday
morning.
Guinea’s Sekouba Konate:
the putschist history may smile on
AFP, Dakar
General Sekouba Konate may be a tainted coup architect,
but the success of Guinea's first free election on Sunday
may earn the reluctant leader a favourable spot in the
country's history. Despite a blurry role in the disastrous
management of the west African nation in 2009 and
suspicions of profiteering, Konate's role in handing power
back to civilians after 24 years of army rule may leave
him a hero.
"If the election goes well, Konate Sekouba may be compared
to Amadou Toumani Toure (Mali's current president), for
promising to restore civilian rule and respecting this
commitment," said Mamadi Kaba, president of the Guinean
section of Raddho (African Assembly for the Defence of
Human Rights).
He "would have performed an act that will be engraved in
capital letters in the annals of the history of the
country".
The son of a Lebanese mother, Konate's father died in 1982
and he was famously taken under the wing of career soldier
Lansana Conte who would seize power two years later and
rule for 24 years.
Konate, a former commander of the elite Battalion of
Airborne Troops (BATA), also known as the "red berets",
became the chief architect of a bloodless coup in December
2008, shortly after General Conte's death.
Shunning the top spot, he left Captain Moussa Dadis Camara
to lead the junta, while taking on the role as defence
minister.
Russia-Belarus energy feud rumbles on
despite payments
AFP, Moscow
Russian gas giant Gazprom resumed gas flows to Belarus on
Thursday after Minsk settled its debt, but the bilateral
energy feud rumbled on as Belarus threatened to cut off
transit to Europe.
Gazprom said it had restarted gas supplies to Belarus
after Russian President Dmitry Medvedev had been informed
by Gazprom chief Alexei Miller that Belarus had covered
payment arrears of nearly 200 million dollars.
"There are currently no problems that would hinder gas
transit and gas supplies to Belarus," Gazprom spoke-sman
Sergei Kupriyanov said in televised comments.
Gazprom said it had also paid 228 million dollars to
Belarus for gas transit.
But in Belarus, authorities refused to confirm they had
received a full payment for transit fees and threatened to
halt transit from 1000 GMT. Belarus says Gazp-rom owes it
260 million dollars in gas transit fees. Its energy
minister Alexander Ozerets said in televised remarks that
Gazprom's payment had represented only 87 percent of
Russia's outstanding debt.
Earlier in the day, however, Belarussian gas pipeline
operator Beltransgaz said it had received payment from
Gazprom and that ties between the two sides were
improving.
Business/Economy
All trade barriers between BD and India to be solved
within a year: Faruk
UNB, Dhaka
Commerce Minister Faruk Khan has said he expects all trade
barriers including tax and non-tax barriers between
Bangladesh and India to be solved within a year.
"Bangladesh is keen to implement the joint communiqué
signed by Bangladesh Prime Minster Sheikh Hasina and
Indian Prime Minister Monmohan Singh. The trade
relat-ionship will be boosted after implementation of the
joint communiqué," he said while addressing a
view-exchanging meeting with an Indian trade delegation at
his office on Thursday .A 20-member delegation of the
Federation of Indian Export
Organizations (FIEO) led by FIEO chairman Ramesh Kumar
Agarwal called on the Commerce Minister.
Speaking on the occasion, Faruk Khan said: "India is not
only a neighboring country of Bangladesh, we are also
their friend. We need a proper understanding between the
two countries to develop trade and commerce."
He also stressed the need for regional cooperation to
increase power and irrigation facilities and control
flooding in the two countries.
Faruk Khan urged the Indian entrepreneurs to invest their
capital in Bangladesh to minimize the trade gap between
Bang-ladesh and India.
"As an investment friendly atmosphere has been prevailing
here, India investors can invest in Bangladesh" he said.
The delegation stressed removing problems of
infrastructure, the banking sector and transportation to
create a trade-friendly envi-ronment in Bangladesh.
Japan
finance minister to push for tax on rich
AFP, Tokyo
Japan's new finance minister will push to raise taxes on
high earners in an effort to boost revenue and narrow the
country's income inequality, he said in an interview
published Thursday.
"I believe we are at a stage where a little bit of
egalitarian thinking... should guide our tax policy,"
Yoshihiko Noda told The Wall Street Journal.
"In that sense, our tax reform will be designed with an
eye toward restoring its income-redistribution function."
Prime Minister Naoto Kan's new administration hopes to
revive confidence in Japan by introducing a new era of
fiscal discipline and beginning work on reducing the
industrialised world's biggest public debt mountain. Kan
and his aides have spoken openly about raising the
consumption tax and have not ruled out doubling it as part
of a wider tax system reform to prevent a Greece-style
meltdown.
"Japan used to derive its strength from its deep and broad
middle class, but unfortunately the income gap has grown
and so many people have been left behind," said the
53-year-old finance minister.
Sri Lanka
rejects ‘insulting’ EU trade conditions
AFP, Colombo
Sri Lanka Thursday trashed "insulting" EU demands that it
make a written undertaking to improve its human rights
record in exchange for trade benefits.
Government spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella said Colombo
also rejected a July 1 deadline issued by the European
Union to agree to a host of other conditions to qualify
for preferential trade tariffs.
"These conditions are unacceptable. They are an insult to
every citizen of this country," Rambukwella told reporters
in Colombo. "We must put the EU demand in the dustbin." He
said the EU conditions affected internal security. The
27-nation bloc wanted Sri Lanka to relax some of the
provisions of its draconian Prevention of Terrorism law,
which was not possible, he added. The EU's executive arm,
the European Commission, has insisted on "significant
improvements on the effective implementation of the human
rights conventions" for the island to continue enjoying
the trade benefits.
The EU trade scheme gives 16 poor nations preferential
access to the vast European market in return for following
strict commitments on a variety of social and rights
issues.
These benefits will be withdrawn on August 15 unless Sri
Lanka makes a written commitment by July 1, according to
the EU.
Sri Lanka's hawkish government faces the prospect of a UN
investigation over its conduct in a war against Tamil
Tiger separatist rebels, who were finally defeated in May
2009.
External Affairs Minister Gamini Lakshman Peiris said
President Mahinda Rajapakse "was firmly of the view that
he cannot bow down to a process of winning trade
concessions at any cost". "We cannot possibly surrender
the decision-making powers to any foreign government,"
Peiris said. "We are not hardening our stand towards the
EU. We are just stating facts."
Government forces have been accused of a host of rights
violations including the indiscriminate killing of
thousands of Tamil civilians, the murder of aid workers
and the execution of surrendering rebels.
Peiris said Sri Lanka's foreign reserves stood at a
historic high of six billion dollars, while the island's
gains from EU preferential tariffs amounted to about 150
million dollars annually. The island's clothing industry
is the main beneficiary, using the concessions to sell to
high-street retailers in Europe. "Sri Lankan entrepreneurs
can overcome this situation through their creativity. Sri
Lankan trade and industry has enough resilience to bounce
back," Peiris said.
India’s wealthy
population crossed one-lakh mark in 2009
PTI, New York
India's population of high net worth individuals grew by
as much as 51 per cent to over 1.26 lakh in 2009, riding
on the surge in market valuations and improved economic
growth, a report said.
According to the 2010 Merrill Lynch-Capgemini World Wealth
Report, in India, the number of high net worth individuals
(HNWIs) with minimum investable assets of USD 1 million
(around Rs 5 crore) rose to 1,26,700 by the end of 2009
compared to just 84,000 in 2008.
"India also has a relatively high market-cap-to-GDP ratio
(two times GDP) and its stock-market capitalisation more
than doubled in 2009, after dropping 64.1 per cent in
2008," the report added. "The recovery was also
underpinned, however, by the strong outlook for India's
underlying economy," it said.
HNWIs are defined as those having investable assets of USD
1 million or more, excluding primary residence,
collectibles, consumables and consumer durables. Among
Asia-Pacific markets, Hong Kong and India led the pack,
rebounding from mammoth declines in their HNWI base and
wealth in 2008 due to strong growth of their stock
markets. The wealth of Asia-Pacific HNWIs rose to USD 9.7
trillion by the end of 2009, a 30.9 per cent increase over
the previous year.
Interestingly, for the first time-ever, the wealth of
Asia- Pacific HNWIs surpassed that of Europe's HNWIs (USD
9.5 trillion) in 2009. "In Asia-Pacific, China and India
will continue to lead the way, with economic expansion and
growth likely to keep outpacing more developed economies.
The region's HNWI growth is likely to be the fastest in
the world as a result," the report added.
China continues to have the world's fourth largest HNWI
base of 477,000 wealthy people at the end of 2009.
Overall, the world's population of HNWIs grew 17.1 per
cent to one crore in 2009, returning to levels last seen
in 2007, despite contraction in the world gross domestic
product.
Global HNWI wealth similarly recovered, rising 18.9 per
cent to USD 39 trillion, with HNWI wealth in Asia-Pacific
and Latin America actually surpassing 2007 levels. The
global HNWI population, nevertheless, remains highly
concentrated in the US, Japan and Germany, which accounted
for 53.5 per cent of the world's HNWI population at the
end of 2009, down slightly from 54 per cent in 2008.
Australia became the tenth largest home to HNWIs after
overtaking Brazil due to a considerable increase in
wealth.
The wealth of ultra-HNWIs, having investable assets of USD
30 million or more, also increased in 2009 and accounted
for 35.5 per cent of global HNWI wealth.
Brazilian
President calls for World Bank, IMF reform
AFP, Brasilia
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva urged
yesterday the reform of major international financial
institutions, calling for them to put aside their
"obsolete dogmas" and focus on development in Africa, Asia
and Latin America.
"We need the World Bank (WB) and International Monetary
Fund (IMF) to abandon once and for all their obsolete
dogmas," Lula said in a ceremony honoring Angolan
President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, on an official visit
here.
Ahead of the G20 meeting in Toronto later this week, Lula
"principal imbalance" in the world on Thursday was "the
gap between rich and poor countries."
The organization's greater focus on development of Africa,
Asia and Latin America, he urged, "would directly enhance
global growth and reduce this unacceptable and harmful
imbalance," he said.
Brazil is one of the world's major emerging economies, and
has built a key negotiating role at G20 meetings in the
wake of the global financial crisis. It strongly advocates
reform of institutions like the World Bank and IMF, as
well as stricter control of the financial system.
Heads of state and government of developed and emerging
countries meet in Toronto Saturday to discuss the pressing
issues of debt, financial regulation and taxation under
economic policies. The meeting will be preceded Friday by
the G8 meeting of eight major industrialized countries in
Huntsville, Ontario.
Apple’s iPhone
4 makes world debut
AFP, Paris
Eager Apple fans rushed to stores in Europe and Japan on
Thursday to become the first owners of the
latest-generation iPhone as it made its global debut in
five countries.
The iPhone 4, which boasts video chat, high-definition
video and sharper screen resolution, hit Britain, France,
Germany and Japan before going on sale in the United
States later on Thursday.
In Paris, Senegalese businessman Bassirou Gueye was among
some 350 people who queued before the opening at 8:00 am
(0600 GMT) of Apple's flagship store, located in the chic
underground shopping mall of the Louvre museum.
"I made a special trip to Paris to buy the iPhone 4. I'm
interested in its high-tech features," said Gueye, a
self-avowed Apple aficionado who already owns half a dozen
bandname devices.
In Germany, there were long queues in Berlin, Munich,
Frankfurt, Cologne and Hamburg of Apple fans hoping to get
their hands on the new handset, with phone company
Deutsche Telekom complaining it did not have enough.
In the capital Berlin, the main outlet opened its doors at
midnight (2200 GMT) while in other cities eager buyers had
to wait until 7:00 am (0500 GMT) for stores to let the
crowds in.
"There were hundreds of people waiting (in Berlin). It
took us until 4:30 am (0230 GMT) to clear the queue,"
Deutsche Telekom spoke-sman Dirk Wende said. "By lunchtime
iPhones in the high tens of thousands have already been
sold. In Munich we have sold out."
Bild, the mass-circulation daily, did its bit to help,
calling Steve Jobs's new gadget "even cooler and better
looking. The unbelievably sharp new display sets new
standards."
Deutsche Telekom, which has the exclusive rights for the
phone in Germany, complained that it could have sold more.
Some 500 customers waited in line outside Apple's flagship
Regent Street store in London when it opened its doors at
7:00 a.m. (0600 GMT) -- far more than those who queued for
the launch of the iPad tablet last month. First in the
doors was Ben Paton, a 23-year-old student, who had queued
for 16 hours. He described the feeling of holding the new
phone in his hands "absolutely incredible, amazing.
"It's a once in a lifetime opportunity. I'd love to do it
again," he said.
Japan's eastern time zone put it first in line to sell the
phone and hundreds braved sweltering humidity outside
Apple's store in the Ginza district to get their hands on
the smartphone.
Ryoichi Hoshino was the first to emerge triumphantly
clutching the new handset after Apple staff gave a loud
countdown ahead of the release. "I love this design, it's
going to beat my expectations 110 percent," he enthused.
"I'm going to use it to watch movies and use Twitter," he
said, referring to the micro-blogging site.
The original iPhone launched in 2007 brought smartphones
to the masses. Apple has sold more than 50 million of the
handsets in the past three years.
But its latest version enters a crowded market full of
rivals boasting bigger screens and running on Google's
open-source Android operating system, which is more
accessible to developers than Apple's tightly guarded
system.
National
Nearly 1000 unemployed people
become self reliant with BSCIC support
BSS, Chitagong
Nearly one thousand jobless people in the district have
changed their lot and become self-reliant economically by
financial and other technical supports from Bangladesh
Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC) in the
out going financial year.
A top official of BSCIC told BSS that a total of 992
unemployed people and low- income group entrepreneurs have
become self-reliant through establishment of various types
of small and cottage industries by receiving proper
training and logistic supports from the BSCIC.
The authorities have provided them with soft- term loan
from its own fund, training and loan facilities from
commercial banks in the country, the source added. The
high official BSCIC Chittagong region said that a total of
602 jobless people out of 993 trainees under BSCIC
received soft loans from its own fund and successfully set
up their industries in rural areas in the district.
Besides, the BCSIC also disbursed Taka 12 crore as soft
loans to 1600 jobless people in their 22 BCSIC industrial
area in Chittagong region, the source added. BSCIC source
said, the authority has identified nearly 2000
entrepreneurs during the first 11 months of the outgoing
fiscal year who individually or jointly want to establish
various types of small and cottage industries in the
district. After examining their activities, the BSCIC
authorities expanded logistic supports to the
entrepreneurs and 993 jobless people received training
during the first 11 months of the financial year under its
poverty alleviation programme, the source added.
Apart from providing loan and adequate logistic facilities
to the new entrepreneurs, the authorities also gave such
facilities to the people who are unable to run their
on-going businesses for want of money and technical
knowledge.
Mohammad Abdul Bashed, Regional Director (RD) of BSCIC
told BSS that the BSCIC gave priority to the jobless and
distressed people of rural areas to supplement the
government endeavours for improving their economic status.
He informed that most of the beneficiaries who received
loan and necessary training have achieved economic
self-sufficiency through various income generating
occupations.
Rangpur people want overall development as committed by
Prime Minster: Ershad
BSS, Rangpur
Former President and Jatiya Party (JP) Chairman Alhaj
Hussein Muhammad Ershad last night said the neglected
Rangpur people have still been waiting for the overall
development of the region as committed by Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina.
The number of unemployed people is the highest in Rangpur
area where no touch of development is visible and
industrialization for creation of job opportunities are
not possible without supply of natural gas and adequate
electricity, he said.
Terming Prime Minister (PM) Sheikh Hasina as the daughter-
in- law of Rangpur, the former President said the people
of Rangpur are still looking at the PM for fulfilling her
per pre- election pledges for ensuring the overall
development of neglected Rangpur.
Ershad said this while addressing the concluding ceremony
of the 'Gold Medal Cultural Competitions, Prize
Distribution and Cultural Functions' organized by Rangpur
Art Academy (RAA) at Rangpur Town Hall auditorium as the
chief guest last night with Channel-i Rangpur
Correspondent and Advisor of RAA Merina Lovely in the
chair.
Parliamentary Standing Committee Member on Information
Ministry Anisul Islam Mandol, Deputy Commissioner BM
Enamul Haque, Sadar Upazila Chairman Mostafizur Rahman
Mostafa and Rangpur Pourasabha Mayor AKM Abdur Rouf Manik
attended as the special guests.
In his speech, Ershad demanded immediate supply of natural
gas through pipelines to Rangpur region for quickening
industrialization and creating job opportunities for the
maximum number of unemployed Rangpur people who have been
remaining still neglected.
"We, the Rangpur people, are still hoping that the Prime
Minister will definitely fulfill he pre-election pledges
for overall developments of Rangpur region and its people
as the Rangpur people do not want to live by bearing the
boxes for begging any more," he said.
Later, Ershad distributed crests, medals and prizes among
the winners of different northern districts in different
categories of the Gold Medal Cultural Competitions
organised by the RAA last night.
AIUB, SUST hold workshop on food security
The American International University-Bangladesh (AIUB)
and the Shahjalal University of Science & Technology (SUST)
jointly organized a workshop on "Food Security for
Vulnerable People: Issues and Policy Options" on 13 June,
2010 at SUST, Sylhet, says a press release.
The workshop was supported by the National Food Policy
Capacity Strengthening Programme (NFPCSP). Dr Carmen Z.
Lamagna, Vice Chancellor of AIUB was the chief guest,
while the special guest was Dr. Giro Fiorillo, Chief
Technical Adviser, NFPCSP, FAO. Professor Dr. Md. Saleh
Uddin, Vice-Chancellor, SUST chaired the inaugural session
which began at 10:00 am at SUST's mini auditorium in
Sylhet. Two research reports have been presented for
disseminating the results through the workshop.
The Principal Investigators of the research teams,
Professor Dr. Mizanul Haque Kazal, Head of the Economics
Department, AIUB and Professor Dr. Rezai Karim Khondker,
Head of the Economics Department, SUST conducted a power
point presentation based on their research, while
Professor Dr. Md. Zakir Hossian, Head of the Statistics
Department, SUST also a Co-Investigator of the research
team delivered a welcome address. The workshop was
attended by the Treasurer, Deans, Heads along with many
faculties of various departments of SUST and AIUB
including Dr. Charles C. Villanueva, Dean Faculty of
Business Administration; Md. Lutfar Rahman, Director
Public Relations as well as many officials from government
and non-government organizations related to the project.
The presentations generated valuable comments from the
participants and the key discussants which are inputs to
the final preparation of the report. The paramount
importance of Food Security on a national and global
development perspectives were underscored by the speakers.
The situation of the underserved communities like people
living in Haors, in hinterlands, in poverty stricken areas
were also given special mention and interest by the
speakers. The workshop ended with cordial thanks to all
the organizations and people who have contributed and
collaborated in the successful completion of the project.
Govt much conscious to protect environment
BSS, Dhaka
State Minister for Environment and Forests Dr Hasan Mahmud
on Thursday said the present government is much conscious
in protecting the environment compared to governments in
the past.
As part of it, focal point on climate affairs has been in
12 concerned ministries and a Climate Change Unit has been
established for coordinating between the ministries, he
said. Hasan Mahmud was addressing as the chief guest while
inaugurating the "Climate Change Unit" at Baitul View
Tower at Purana Paltan in the city.
He said since Bangladesh is at the highest risk due to
climate change, the Environment and Forests Ministry has
established the unit for facing the adverse situation due
to global warming. "Setting up an unit for facing risks
caused by climate change in a country like Bangladesh is
of much importance," he said, adding this unit would
function in overcoming risks due to global warming.
This unit would perform all functions in overcoming
climate change, he said, adding development partners have
already provided US Dollar 110.2 million assistance for
Climate Change Resilience Fund. The unit headed by a joint
secretary comprising nine officials and 33 employees for
which an specialist consultant would be appointed soon, he
said, adding all funds granted by development partners as
well as Climate Change Resilience Fund would be maintained
through this unit. This unit would be implemented as a
project costing Taka 5.50 crore for two years and it would
soon convert to revenue sector, he added. Environment and
Forests Secretary Dr Mihir Kanti Majumder, Director
General of Environment Department Monwar Islam, Chief of
Climate Change Unit Md Saheduzzaman and Chief Forest
Conservator Abdul Motaleb were present.
Substantial reduction of maternal, neonatal mortality,
morbidity stressed
BSS, Rajshahi
Speakers at a ceremony here on Thursday called for
substantial reduction of maternal and neonatal mortality
and morbidity to ensure best outcome of the pregnancy.
To attain the goal, they laid stress on producing quality
family welfare assistants and health assistants through an
established certification and registration system for safe
midwifery practice in the community.
They were addressing the certificate giving ceremony for
Community Based Skilled Birth Attendants (CSBAs) organized
by the Directorate General of Health Services at Rajshahi
Medical College Auditorium.
Director General of Family Planning Muhammad Abdul Qayyum
addressed the ceremony as the chief guest with RMC
Principal Prof Dr ABM Abdul Hannan in the chair.
Director of Primary Healthcare Department Dr Jahangir Alam,
Vice-principal of Rajshahi Medical College (RMC) Prof Dr
Shahidur Rahman Tarafder, Director of Rajshahi Medical
College Hospital Brigadier General Abdul Latif and Deputy
Resident of UNFPA Yuki Suehiro addressed as special
guests.
In his address of welcome, Divisional Director of Health
Dr Nurul Amin described the aspects of the training
program while Divisional Director of Family Planning
Zahidul Islam delivered his thanksgiving speech.
In her keynote speech, Focal Point of SCBA Training Prof
Nasima Begum stated that some 10,000 mothers die every
year in the country during delivery while another 20-30
suffer from morbidity against each maternal death.
Besides, neonatal and infant mortality rates are 37 and 52
respectively per 1000 live births while under 5 mortality
rate is 65 among 1000 live births. She mentioned that 80
percent death occurs at home during delivery and
immediately after child birth.
Prof Begum, however, said some 5,352 CSBAs are rendering
different services and helping in improving maternal and
child health situation in the community.
In this regard, she suggested increasing clinical
facilities, continuous supply of logistics, regular
monitoring, supervision, community mobilization for
maintaining and further improvement of their services.
Line Director of Family Planning Dr Jafar Ahmed Hakim also
presented another keynote paper on the issue.
ADB-Japan help for further improving teaching quality in
secondary education
BSS, Dhaka
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Japanese
government are assisting Bangladesh to lay the groundwork
for a project which will further improve teaching quality
in secondary education.
To support the initiative, a technical assistance (TA)
grant agreement for US$500,000 was signed on Thursday
between the government of Bangladesh and ADB at Economic
Relations Division at Sher-e- Bangla Nagar in the city.
Saifuddin Ahmed, Joint Secretary, Economic Relations
Division, Md Ansar Ali, Deputy Chief, Ministry of
Education, Thevakumar Kandiah, Country Director of ADB's
Bangladesh Resident Mission, and Takanori Uehara, Minister
Counselor, Embassy of Japan, Dhaka were present at the
signing ceremony. The Japan Special Fund will provide the
grant for the TA, to be administered by ADB. The
assistance will pave the way for the Second Teaching
Quality Improvement (TQI) in Secondary Education Project,
which is in ADB's pipeline for 2012.
Taka 59.85 crore budget for Tongi Pourasabha
BSS, Gazipur
Tongi Pourasabha Mayor Advocate Ajmat Ullah Khan on
Thursady announced a Taka 59 crore 85 lakh 66 thousand one
hundred and 66 for the fiscal 2010-2011.
The mayor presented the budget in the Pourasabha
auditorium in presence of local parliament member,
journalists, all councilors of the pourasabha and others
local public representatives.
In the proposed budget, Tk 12.37 crore has been earmarked
as revenue income and Tk 14.97 crore as development grant
from government. The highest allocation of Tk 32.91 crore
has been made for UGIIP, BMTF, EDRF, UPPRP projects.
Chairman of Parliamentary Standing Committee on Youth and
Sports Md. Zaheed Ahsan Rusel, Ismail Hossain, executive
officer of Tongi Pourasabha, Awami league leaders Abdur
Rashid and Rajab Ali were also present in the function.
Sports
Germany, Ghana both advance at World
Cup
AFP, Johannesburg
Germany beat Ghana 1-0 after a second-half goal from Mesut
Oezil to win Group D and set up a second-round World Cup clash
with traditional rival England.
Ghana also advanced despite Wednesday's loss at Soccer City
and became the first African team to make the round of 16 at
the first World Cup held on the continent.
"It was a tense game. We could have made more out of our
opportunities," Germany coach Joachim Loew said. "We were not
very precise up front. But I can't blame my young players,
there was a lot of pressure, we had to win. And now we are
really looking forward to England.
"It's going to be a special game, there is so much history
between us. It's a team with many excellent players and a lot
of experience. (Wayne) Rooney can explode any time, we'll have
a tough job." Germany won the group with six points and Ghana
was second with four, going through on goal difference thanks
to Australia's 2-1 victory over Serbia in the other match.
Oezil rifled a left-footed shot from outside the area into the
left corner of the net to break the deadlock in the 60th
minute after both teams had wasted a number of chances. "I
simply shot the ball, but I should have scored in the first
half too," said Oezil, who was voted man of the match. "I had
a lot of support from my teammates. It doesn't matter whom we
play next, we have to keep winning."
"I am very relieved to have scored because I had missed many
chances in the tournament," Oezil said.
Once the scoreboard had flashed the result of the other match,
Ghana players celebrated their progress, waving the country's
flag and running to the corner where their supporters were.
The Black Stars went through thanks to their 1-0 win over
Serbia and a 1-1 draw with Australia.
Rajevac said he hoped the South Africans, whose team was
eliminated, would throw their support behind his team. Germany
had been in danger of failing to advance from the group stage
for the first time but the three-time champions had the upper
hand throughout the match, without taking unnecessary risks.
"It was good for my young team to be in a make-or-break
situation," Loew said.
Ghana also had some chances and Kwadwo Asamoah ran through in
the 51st minute but shot weakly at goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.
Oezil was clear in the 25th but Ghana goalie Richard Kingson
blocked his shot.
In the first half, Ghana's Asamoah Gyan had a header from a
corner cleared at the post by Lahm, and Kevin-Prince Boateng's
header was wide. Jerome Boateng, Kevin-Prince's half brother,
played for Germany.
Australia
beats Serbia 2-1 in Group D
AP, Nelspruit
Tim Cahill and Brett Holman scored second-half goals Wednesday
to help Australia beat Serbia 2-1 in Group D of the World Cup,
though both teams were eliminated. Cahill put the Australians
ahead with a glancing header from Luke Wilkshire's cross in
the 69th minute and Holman added the second from long range
four minutes later.
"A lot of respect for the lads. We've been through some hard
times here," said Cahill, who was sent off in the team's
opening match. "I'm just buzzing to hit the back of the net
because this time last week my World Cup was over."
Marko Pantelic pulled a goal back for Serbia in the 84th, and
then had a chance for a late equalizer but couldn't control a
bouncing ball. If Serbia had drawn, the team would have
advanced ahead of Ghana.
"I'm just disappointed we don't go through. We have four
points, I thought it might be enough," Australia coach Pim
Verbeek said. "In the end the goal difference against Germany
killed us." Australia's defense had been torn apart by
Germany's wide players in its opening 4-0 loss and Serbia's
early attacks were concentrated down the wings through Milos
Krasic and Milan Jovanovic. "We did our best, everything we
could," Serbia coach Radomir Antic said. "This was a good game
and I can't reproach my players as we had plenty of chances
that we didn't take. In the end, we deserved more than what we
got and now we have to go back home." Serbia should have
scored in the 12th minute when Milos Ninkovic broke through
midfield from an Australia corner and put Krasic clear, but
the winger was forced wide by goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer and
shot off target. Schwarzer also did well to block defender
Branislav Ivanovic's effort from close range, while Nikola
Zigic should have done better with a free header from Zdravko
Kuzman-ovic's cross in the first half.
Krasic was jeered until his substitution in the 62nd as the
majority Australian support in the crowd thought he had dived
looking for a penalty in the second minute. When the
Socc-eroos did finally get the ball into a better crossing
position, Mark Bresciano's delivery was skewed wide by Cahill
rising at the back post.
"You see guys who will play their hearts out and run all day
and then others come on and do the same thing," Cahill said.
"We have a team that works together and the team is
fantastic." Australia started the second half brightly and
Bresciano, Cahill and Jason Culina all tried their luck from
distance. "We wanted to continue in the second half with the
tempo of the first but we are human and the missed
opportunities depleted our morale," Antic said. "When Cahill
jumped and scored, that was a shock for us and we lost our
balance."
Serbia looked beaten, but Pantelic's late goal made for a
frantic finale. An equalizer would have put the Serbs through,
but Australia's defense held.
India
set Sri Lanka 269 to win Asia Cup
AFP, Dambulla
Dinesh Karthik top-scored with 66 as India made 268-6
after electing to bat in the Asia Cup one-day final
against hosts Sri Lanka on Thursday.
Karthik, who replaced the injured Virender Sehwag, hit
nine boundaries to lead India's batting in the day-night
match at the Rangiri stadium in Dambulla.
Karthik put on 62 for the second wicket with Virat Kohli
(28) and 46 for the third with skipper Mahendra Singh
Dhoni (38).
Rohit Sharma propped up with the middle-order with a
fluent 41, before Ravindra Jadeja boosted the score with
an unbeaten 25.
Sri Lanka are seeking a hat-trick of titles, having won
the last two editions in 2004 and 2008.
The tournament was not held in 2006.
Thilina Kandamby, who had failed to take a wicket with his
leg-spin in 32 previous one-dayers, stu-nned India's top
order with the dismissals of Karthik and Dhoni.
Karthik pulled a full-toss to deep square-leg, while Dhoni
cut a short ball uppishly to point. Sling-arm fast bowler
Lasith Malinga finished with 2-57, while Nuwan Kula-sekara
claimed 1-44.
Spain’s WCup dream in danger
against Chile
AFP, Pretoria
Reigning European champions Spain will need a victory over
Chile today (Friday) to keep a much-fancied World Cup run
on course with mighty Brazil or arch-rival Portugal likely
waiting if they do advance.
The Spaniards must defeat Chile to seal a spot and to win
the group must also hope Switzerland, which delivered a
1-0 shocker over Spain in their Group H opener, cannot
overcome Spain's goal-difference edge after facing
Honduras.
"We still need to beat Chile," Spanish star David Villa
said. "There's a long way to go before we can even think
about being world champions, both in terms of time and
matches."
The two Group H qualifiers are set to face knockout
matches against the Group G survivors, Brazil and
almost-certain Portugal.
Either figures to be a tough match, with a large
Portuguese population in South Africa set to support their
favorites and Brazil's playmakers alongside Spain as a
choice of many to reach the World Cup final. Argentina
coach Diego Maradona summed up the consensus about Spain
before the World Cup began, saying, "The way they started
off, Spain was coming to pick up the World Cup and we were
all playing for second place."
The Swiss loss derailed Spanish supremacy talk and not
even a 2-0 victory over Honduras, new Barcelona signing
Villa netting two goals, could change that.
Brazil to battle
Portugal for top spot
AFP, Durban
World Cup favourites Brazil clash with their former
colonial masters Portugal in their final Group G match on
Friday, with the five-time champions already qualified for
the round of 16.
Brazil have racked up a 2-1 win over North Korea and a 3-1
victory over Ivory Coast to sit pretty on six points. A
draw would see them top the group.
Portugal, on a run of 17 matches without defeat, drew 0-0
with the Ivorians before routing North Korea 7-0 to put
them in second spot in the group and needing only a draw
to advance to the next round.
Even if they were to lose against Brazil, Portugal's goal
difference is such that Ivory Coast, with one point, would
have to win handsomely, and then some, to be close to
threatening them for second spot. "Brazil are going all
out to win another important match - it is important to
ensure top spot," said Brazilian playmaker Kaka, who will
miss Friday's game after his red card against Ivory Coast.
Portuguese coach Carlos Queiroz said he hoped his side
would avenge a 6-2 friendly defeat to the Brazilians in
2008 - the last time they shipped six goals was in 1955.
Portuguese midfielder Tiago added: "Our sole interest is
to beat Brazil and finish top of the group. After that we
will see. Brazil coach Dunga, who has led his side to
victory in the Copa America and the Confederations Cup
here last year, will likely field some reserves against
Portugal.
Confident Swiss face Honduras
hurdle
AFP, Bloemfontein
Giant killers Switzerland go into their final group clash
knowing a win by two clear goals against Honduras would
seal a place in the last 16 of the World Cup.
The Swiss, sunk 1-0 by Chile on Monday, could also
progress with a narrow win or a draw in Bloemfontein,
depending on the result of Friday's other game in Group H
between Spain and Chile.
Chile have a maximum six points, with Spain and
Switzerland both on three points. Honduras, appearing in
only their second World Cup finals, are yet to get off the
mark.
Chile have a goal difference of plus two, with Spain on
plus one and the Swiss on zero. The Swiss began the
tournament in South Africa in style, shocking the European
champions 1-0 in their opener before slipping to defeat to
Chile. In that game they were reduced to 10 men with coach
Ottmar Hitzfeld laying the blame for midfielder Valon
Behrami's red card firmly at the door of Chilean
midfielder Arturo Vidal.
Hitzfeld said he would target the Honduras defence at the
Free State stadium and would set his team up to play in a
more attacking style than in the Spain game. "We must
present ourselves differently than we did against Spain
where we knew that we would have to defend all of the
match," said Hitzfeld, one of just three coaches to win
the Champions League with two different clubs.
"Honduras are a very technical side that possesses
undeniable talent in attack," said Hitzfeld. "Players like
(David) Suazo, (Roger) Espinoza, (Edgar) Alvarez or
(Ramon) Nunez are very talented technically. However,
their defence can sometimes be disorganised, which leaves
holes in it. We must benefit from that."
Baptista, Daniel Alves
may start against Portugal
AP, Durban
Brazil is likely to make two changes for its final Group G
match against Portugal on Friday, with Julio Baptista
replacing the suspended Kaka and Daniel Alves coming in
for the injured Elano.
Brazil has already qualified for the second round but
needs at least a draw against Portugal to clinch first
place in the group. Kaka got a late red card in the match
against Ivory Coast on Sunday, while Elano remains
doubtful after injuring his right ankle against the
Ivorians.
Dunga is yet to officially announce the team for the match
in Durban, but Julio Baptista and right back Daniel Alves
were among the starters in Brazil's penultimate practice
before traveling from its training camp in Johannesburg to
the coastal city of Durban.
US out for revenge against African hopes Ghana
AFP, Rustenburg
A thrill-ride run through the group stage of the World Cup
has put the United States into the knockout rounds
starting Saturday with a grudge match against African
hopes Ghana.
The Americans were moments from tumbling out in the first
round for a second consecutive World Cup before Landon
Donovan's stoppage-time goal Wednesday gave the US team a
dramatic 1-0 victory over Algeria and the Group C title.
"Hands down the biggest moment in my career. That's
something I will have embedded in my mind forever,"
Donovan said. "I'm so proud of our guys. We kept going and
we believed. We're alive. We're not done yet.
The Americans rallied to draw England 1-1, came back from
two goals down to draw Slovenia 2-2 with a disallowed
winning goal and shook off another controversial no-goal
referee call to solve Algeria at the death to advance.
Several US players have said that the memory of the 2006
flop is in the back of their minds. Now they can match the
2002 team's run to the quarter-finals by avenging a 2-1
loss to Ghana in the 2006 groups that sent the Americans
home.
And with South Korea or Uruguay awaiting the US-Ghana
winner to decide a semi-final spot, the path to matching
the 1930 US squad's record run to the final four lacks
such once-possible powerhouses as Germany or Argentina.
As US captain Carlos Bocanegra put it - "Now is the fun
stuff."
Bocanegra calls the Americans "heart attack-esque" for
their tendency to play their best when pushed to the edge,
but he also credits a bond among players that goes far
beyond football schemes.
US forward Jozy Altidore agreed, adding, "The mentality
and fight in these guys is unbelievable. Sometimes, we
want it too much."
Tendulkar gets
Air Force rank
AFP, Mumbai
Cricket great Sachin Tendulkar is to be given an honorary
rank in the Indian Air Force in recognition of his
contribution to the nation and to encourage young people
to join up. Tendulkar, one of India's greatest ever
batsmen, said he was pleased to be honoured by the air
force.
"It is indeed a great honour. I am proud to be associated
with the dynamic force and I shall do my best to be a
brand ambassador," Tendulkar, 37, said in a statement from
London. An Air Force statement said President Pratibha
Patil had agreed to confer the rank of group captain on
Tendulkar.
"The President and the Supreme Commander of the Armed
Forces of India is pleased to confer Sachin Tendulkar the
honorary rank of Group Captain of the Indian Air Force,"
the statement issued late Wednesday said.
"Tendulkar's association with the IAF will motivate the
younger generation to join the Air Force to serve the
country." The country's armed forces grant honorary ranks
to well-known personalities for their contribution to the
nation. In 2008, India's 1983 World Cup-winning cricket
captain Kapil Dev received the honorary rank of lieutenant
colonel of the Territorial Army. Tendulkar is the most
prolific batsmen in contemporary cricket with a world
record 47 Test and 46 one-day centuries, besides holding
the record for most runs in both forms of the game.
Gyan happy to bear African standard at World Cup
AFP, Johannesburg
Ghana might be known as the 'Black Stars' but on Thursday
they shone brightly as Africa's sole representative in
last 16 of the World Cup, the first to be hosted on the
continent.
They could be joined by Ivory Coast were the 'Elephants'
to score a hatful of goals against North Korea and Brazil
beat Portugal, but in all likelihood Ghana just as in 2006
will be Africa's sole survivor in the second round.
Ghana's inspirational striker Asamoah Gyan - scorer of
both their goals from the penalty spot in the group phase
- said that they would not be simply satisifed with a
place in the last 16 and were out for victory over the
United States on Sunday.
A win there would see them play either Uruguay or South
Korea in the quarter-finals and the chance of becoming the
first African country to reach the semi-finals - Cameroon
and Senegal having reached the last eight in 1990 and 2002
respectively.
"We are very happy (to have qualified), even if we wanted
to have other African teams come through as well," said
the 24-year-old whose career has rebounded after
threatening to quit the international scene in 2008 during
a poor African Cup of Nations.
"We are on the right path and we are representing our
continent, which makes us very happy.
"The Americans, though, are a very good team, they expend
a lot of energy and are strong physically. But we too have
good players, it is for that that we have so much
self-confidence," added the Rennes player, whose goals
inspired a young Ghana side to the final of the Africa Cup
of Nations final this year in Angola. Ghanaian defender
John Pantsil concurred with Gyan's comments.
"I am very sad to see the other African teams eliminated,"
said 29-year-old Pantsil, who plays his club football for
English Premier League side Fulham.
"We are going to represent the continent. We are going to
correct our mistakes and speak to our strikers so that
they can be more effective. We believe in ourselves and we
are going to score more goals."
Mexicans look to
learn from past lessons
AFP, Johannesburg
Mexico say they will look to learn lessons from the past
when they play Argentina in their second round match at
the World Cup in Johannesburg on Sunday.
Mexico lost to Diego Maradona's two-times champions at the
same stage of the last World Cup in Germany to an
extra-time goal from Maxi Rodriguez and now have to try to
work out a way of derailing this year's Argentine vintage,
which swept through Group B. Javier Aguirre's team
qualified from Group A in second place after losing to a
classy-looking Uruguay and now have to nail their colours
to the mast against a side which many see as title
material.
If 2006 may serve as a lesson - the Mexicans took an early
lead before losing the initiative - the man who scored
their goal in that game, veteran defender Rafa Marquez,
can draw on a more positive memory of meeting sky-blue and
white opposition.
SKorea and Uruguay eye surprising spoils
AFP, Port Elizabeth
South Korea and Uruguay meet here on Saturday in a World
Cup last 16 clash that few pundits would have predicted at
the start of the tournament.
Uruguay made it to the second round as surprise winners of
Group A after holding France to a goalless draw, beating
hosts South Africa 3-0, and closing with a 1-0 win over
Mexico, Ajax striker Luis Suarez getting the all important
goal.
Uruguay won the inaugural World Cup on home soil in 1930
and followed up in 1950.
They crashed out on their last appearance in the
competition in 2002 when co-hosts South Korea made it into
the semi-finals.
A last four place is again the target coach Huh Jung-Moo
has set for his Asian giants in South Africa.
"We have achieved our first objective of reaching the
round of 16," Huh, an accomplished changgi (Korean chess)
player, said.
"After that, anybody can guess what our next objective
might be, but I know that the players will immediately set
a higher target.
"They won't be satisfied now with just having progressed.
They will want to get to the semi-finals."
South Korea have punched above their weight in South
Africa to finish runners-up in Group B. They opened in
style with a 2-0 win over former European champions
Greece, on their first visit to Port Elizabeth's Nelson
Mandela Bay stadium.
A 4-1 rout by Argentina followed but they put that reverse
behind them when holding Nigeria to a 2-2 draw in Durban
on Tuesday.
After securing their last 16 ticket Huh observed: "It's
the first time we reached the second round at a World Cup
abroad.
I'm very proud and very happy," Huh said. "I feel my
players played to their full potential and were not
intimidated."
South Korea captain and Manchester United winger Ji-Sung
Park, who scored in the win over Greece, added: "It's a
first for us to qualify away from home and we're very
pleased to have done it here in South Africa.
"All the players know how tough it is to do, but I'm very
proud of the players at having done so.Uruguay coach Oscar
Tabarez has warned South Korea that his side are
improving.
"I don't think we have achieved all we want yet," Tabarez
said.
"As a coach it is very satisfying to see how the group has
evolved. This is an excellent group, there is cohesion and
friendship among the players and they are really dedicated
to the job they are doing."
Beckenbauer backing
Germany to down England
AFP, Berlin
German football legend Franz Beckenbauer on Thursday
backed Germany to beat old rivals England in Sunday's
Round of 16 match with a World Cup quarter-final place at
stake.
"This is a classic game of football, but unfortunately it
has come too early in the competition. It is worthy of a
semi-final, but not a last 16 game," Beckenbauer wrote in
his column for German daily Bild. "You need to respect
this team but not fear them because they were poor during
their first two matches of this World Cup.
"Although they did improve against Slovenia," added
Beckenbauer after England made sure of their last 16 berth
with a 1-0 win over the Slovenians on Wednesday.According
to Beckenbauer, Germany will have an advantage over
England in terms of fitness when the sides meet in
Bloemfontein on Sunday.
"The English seem tired and there's a reason for this: the
Premier League players compete in more matches than their
colleagues from the Bundesliga, excluding the FA and
League Cups," he wrote. "That is why they often arrive
jaded at a World Cup or a Euro ... while our players give
the impression of being in better physical condition.
"Beckenbauer captained Germany to the 1974 title and then
coached the team which won Italia 1990.
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