wednesday, june 9, 2010 Jyestha 26, 1417, JAMADIUS SANI 24, 1431 Hijri

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Leading News

Bangladesh targets risky high-rises, chemical stores
AFP, Dhaka

Bangladesh launched a crackdown Monday on shoddy buildings and illegal chemical factories in residential areas after an apartment block collapse and huge fire that killed almost 150, officials said.
The blaze left 119 people dead as it raged through the historic heart of Dhaka Thursday, fuelled by an illegal chemical warehouse in the basement of one of the buildings, officials said.
Two days earlier, a four-storey block of flats collapsed and fell onto three tin shanties, killing at least 25 garment workers and poor labourers.
The accidents have raised concerns among Dhaka residents, forcing the government to act.
"We set up two taskforces to crack down on unapproved buildings and illegal chemical factories and warehouses," food and disaster management minister Abdur Razzak told AFP.
"We won't allow chemicals being stored in residential areas. It's too dangerous," he said. "We shall also identify and demolish high-rise buildings that have gone up while flouting construction laws."
Local officials have already started knocking down a seven-floor building seen tilting dangerously on Friday, magistrate Mohammad Rokonuddowla said.
"We will also demolish two more multi-storied buildings in the next seven days, as they too have tilted. They were built without government approval," he said.
Police shut down four chemical stores in residential districts of old Dhaka, according to the ATN Bangla television channel.
Fire fighters said Thursday's blaze was made worse by an illegal chemical warehouse which caught fire, creating a huge fireball which engulfed the surrounding buildings.
Two burn victims died in hospital Monday, bringing the death toll to 119. Dozens of critically injured patients are still being treated in Dhaka hospitals.

 Khaleda outlines priorities for budget allocations
UNB, Dhaka

BNP chairperson and leader of the opposition Khaleda Zia on Monday placed her party's 'Budget Thought' for the national budget of fiscal 2010-2011 suggesting to give priority in allocation to power and energy, education, health and physical infrastructure sectors.
This is for the first time in the country a political party particularly main opposition projected national budget thoughts and proposals outside parliament when 5th session of the 9th parliament is in session. BNP is abstaining from the current session.
Khaleda Zia read her 32-page budget thoughts and proposals at a function at Hotel Sheraton Winter Garden at 4:40 pm.
Members of BNP standing committee, leaders of BNP and its front and associate organizations, leaders of different political parties, academics, economists, businessmen, editors of different dailies and diplomats were, among others, present.
The former Prime Minister said they want to cooperate with the government by their thoughts and suggestions for the national budget and hoped that the government will accept BNP's proposal for greater national interest.
Describing the aims of BNP's budget thoughts, she said the budget should be for people, development and production while the principle of allocation of budget should be guided by the principle of most efficient application of limited resources among sectors of clearly defined priorities. On power and energy, she said the present government has been speaking of its grandiose plans for new electricity generation. However, nothing has happened so far except for the recent initiatives for setting up rental power units, the procurement of which is being done in violation of established norms.
Khaleda said they are concerned that the high purchase price (Tk 14-Tk 16 per unit) of power from the proposed rental units will, in the absence of substantial subsidies to PDB, result in much higher tariff to the users. This will affect the profitability of the industries sector, particularly the small and medium enterprises, and the agriculture sector, apart from causing hardship to household consumers.
Should the government decide to provide subsidies, in the coming year alone it will entail an estimated Taka 7,000-9,000 crore, which is three times more than the total allocations Tk 2600 crore) for the last fiscal year, and is likely to be higher than the total allocations for the coming fiscal year.
This additional burden of subsidy will entail reduced allocations for other equally important sectors of the economy. She said they have no objection in principle over the government entering into an agreement with Russia for establishing a 1000 MW nuclear power plant but it is still in very early stages and the details are yet to be worked out.
She, however, raised a safety related issue saying that Bangladesh being a densely populated country, it will be imperative to ensure that foolproof safety measures are enforced to protect the population against any eventualities arising from the use and handling of radioactive materials, particularly with respect to the disposal of nuclear wastes.

 Hasina urges Khaleda to place her budget proposals in JS
UNB, Dhaka

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has urged opposition leader Khaleda Zia to place her alternative proposal on budget in parliament if she has any. "If the people consider your proposal welfare-oriented they will consider it. If not they will reject it," she said at a discussion marking the historic 7th June, Six-point Demand Day, at Osmani Memorial Hall on Monday evening.
The Prime Minister assured that opposition leader Khaleda Zia will be given enough time to speak on her budget proposals in Parliament "as much as she wants." She, however, said that when she was the opposition leader in the last parliament, her mike was stopped 72 times by the speaker.
"On her (then Prime Minister) signal, the then Speaker used to stop my mike. But present opposition leader Khaleda Zia at the first session of the present parliament spoke for a long time without any interruption from the speaker."
Hasina bitterly criticized the opposition party for its anti-government agitation programme including the hartal called for June 27.
She said the purpose of the agitations is to "protect militants, war criminals, corrupts and ill-gotten money." "There is not a single programme of BNP, which will be helpful for people's welfare," she added.
The Prime Minister alleged that Khaleda Zia is creating obstacles to halt the pace of development in the country.
"In fact, Khaleda Zia cannot tolerate so many development activities initiated by the present government," she said. "I want justice from the people. Why is she (Khaleda) threatening the government officers? Why is she impeding the pace of development?"
She said the opposition leader does not want country's power generation to increase and the power crisis resolved. "The opposition leader is saying that if the country's power generation is increased, she will file case. Then what does she want?" Hasina said, apparently indicating Khaleda's reaction on rental power plants.
She said Khaleda Zia and her party do not want welfare and development of the people. About the controversy over "rice at Tk 10", the Prime Minister said the last Awami League government (1996-2001) used to provide coarse rice at Tk 10 per kg, but price of this rice had increased up to Tk 45 during the five years of next BNP-Jamaat government.
"Now Khaleda Zia must answer why price of rice had increased so much during her tenure?"

   Amar Desh acting editor on 4-day police remand
UNB, Dhaka

Metropolitan magistrate court Monday gave acting editor of Amar Desh Mahmadur Rahman to 4-day police remand in two separate cases despite strong opposition by his counsel who told the court that the police intended to physically torture him.
A host of senior lawyers including Khandker Mahbub Hossain and Barrister Abdur Razzak who stood for Mahmudur Rahman to oppose the remand petition boycotted the court observing that the "court is biased'.
Feeling embarrassed amid chaos and shouting Magistrate Mehedi Hasan Talukdar left the court at about 4pm without issuing any order on the petition for 5-day remand in the case that accused Mahmudur Rahman of obstructing the police in performing their duty.
The petition was again taken up by a separate court at about 5pm of additional chief metropolitan magistrate Mohammad Ali Hossain. He granted 3-day police remand of Mahmudur Rahman in the absence of his counsel.
Earlier during the hearing on the remand petition in the court of magistrate Mehedi, Public prosecutors Abdullah Abu and Khandker Abdul Mannan said Mahmudur Rahman had hired scores of musclemen who assaulted the policemen when they raided the office of daily Amar Desh on Wednesday night.
The prosecutors held that Mahmudur Rahaman is needed in police remand to know about the musclemen who had assaulted the police during the raid.
Strongly opposing the remand petition counsel of Mahmudur Rahman said neither any muscleman was hired by him nor the police were assaulted. The charges have been cooked up only to harass him and undermine his goodwill.
The police seek to take Mahmudur Rahman to remand for torturing him physically out of vengeance, contended his counsel.
Earlier, Kotwali thana showed Mahmudur Rahman arrested in another case and sub-inspector Mokhlesur Rahman sought his remand for seven days. Additional chief metropolitan magistrate Habibur Rahman Bhuiya granted one-day remand.

    Taxi requisitioning
HC orders government to terminate 3 constables

UNB, Dhaka

The High Court has directed the government to terminate three police constables and file criminal case against them on charges of assaulting a taxicab driver on the pretext of requisitioning his vehicle at Farmgate in the city.
Passing the orders, an HC division bench headed by Justice AHM Sham-suddin Chowdhury on Monday asked the Inspector General of Police to submit a report within a fortnight outlining what steps have been taken against the perpetrators.
Earlier, the perpetrators-Kabir Hossain, Abdul Malek and M Arshad Uddin-in compliance with the court order appeared in person before the bench during the day's hearing to explain the incident.
Denying the allegation of harassing a taxicab driver over requisition on May 13, the constables submitted that they were clearing the roads in Farmgate area as the President's motorcade was crossing the road.
On the other hand, Ripon Khan, the victim taxi driver, told the court that the three policemen severely harassed and assaulted him on the pretext of requisitioning his taxicab.
After hearing the statements of both the entangled parties, the HC bench passed the orders.

Back Page

JS body asks BPC to inform about oil price fixing process
BSS, Dhaka

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on public accounts Monday asked Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) to inform it under which basis and process, BPC fixes the price of oil at the market.
The decision was taken at the 21st meeting of the committee held at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban here with its chairman Dr Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir in the chair, an official handout said. Committee members Prof M Ali Ashraf, Dhirendra Chandra Debnath, Khan Tipu Sultan, Maj Gen (retd) Abdus Salam, Narayan Chandra and Farida Akhtar attended the meeting.
During the meeting, objection has been raised about the accounts of Padma, Meghna and Jamuna oil companies for fiscal 1996- 1997 through a special evolution report.
The committee recommended giving bunkering rights of supplying oil on coastal routes through floating competitive tender against the backdrop of government's revenue loss of Taka 6.02 crore in supplying fuel. It also asked the concerned authorities to identify those officials who have not yet to given reply about audit objections. The committee also sought satisfactory answer from those officials within 15 days.
The meeting also discussed various issues about audit objections on supply and marketing of fuel. Acting Secretary of Energy and Mineral Resources Division M Mesbahuddin and concerned high officials of the ministry were present during the meeting.

   ‘EC to set example holding June 17 CCC polls in impartial way’

BSS, Chittagong

Election Commissioner (EC) Brigadier General (retd) Shakawat Hossain said here Monday the Election Com-mission (EC) is pledge-bound to set an example by holding the June 17 Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) polls in a free, fair and credible manner.
He said it was a long-cherished dream of the EC for holding the coming CCC polls keeping it above all controversies and doubts. Shakawat made the remarks while inaugurating a training programme of the electoral officials, including presiding officers, assistant presiding officers and polling officers, in the city's Government Kha-stagir Girls School.
He expressed his firm commitment to hold the CCC election in a free and fair manner. The EC directed all, engaged in election duty, to discharge their duties impartially and said stern legal action would be taken against the violators of the electoral rules. Shakawat said the EC would not entertain any kind of anomaly and chaos in any polling center and added polling must be stopped in the centers where there would be any chaos.
Later, talking to journalists he underscored the need for changing political culture of the political parties for putting blame on the Election Commission (EC) after their defeat. "You behave well before election but the moment you lose you demand resignation of the EC, which is in no way a good political culture," said Shakawat. Retur-ning officer Jesmin Tuli presided over the inaugural function while Deputy Election Com-missioner Ezaharul Hoq and senior officials of election commission, among others, spoke at the function.
The EC source said a total of 3000 polling and presiding officers out of 16425 were imparted training on the first day. The training programme will continue till June 12.
Source said, this time the EC has not appointed any polling, presiding and assistant presiding officers from the educational institutions under CCC area with a view to holding the election in an impartial way.

    7 killed in road crashes in B’baria, Gazipur, Meherpur and Bogra

UNB, Dhaka

Four people including two garment workers were killed and 12 others injured in separate road accidents in B'baria, Gazipur districts on Monday.
In Brahmanbaria, two people were crushed under the wheels of a stone-laden truck on Dhaka-Sylhet highway at Bhudanti in sadar upazila on Monday afternoon.
The deceased were identified as Jaru Mia, 45 and Faruk Mia, 42.
Witnesses said, the accident occurred at about 2 pm as a stone-laden truck from Sylhet ran over Jaru and Faruk when they were crossing the road, leaving them dead on the spot. Traffic disrupted on Dhaka-Sylhet highway for an hour as the agitated people put barricade on the road following the accident. On information police rushed to the spot and bought the situation under control.
In Gazipur, two workers of Standard Garments were killed in a head-on collision between a truck and a microbus on Dhaka-Tangail Highway at Chandra in Kaliakoir upazila on Monday morning. The deceased were identified as Hasina, 24 and Lipi, 25, hailed from Kazipur in Sirajganj. Police said, the accident occurred at about 8 am when a truck collided with a Sirajganj-bound microbus, carrying eight garment workers, leaving two of them dead on the spot and injuring others. The injured were rushed to local hospital. Separate cases were filed.
A local Awami League leader was killed as a truck ran over him in front of the office of police super in town on Monday morning. The deceased was identified as Shamsuzzoha, 50, secretary of poura Awami League ward-7 unit.
Witnesses said the accident occurred at about 8 am when the potato laden truck hit him while he was crossing the road, leaving him dead on the spot.
Police seized the truck but its driver and helper managed to flee the scene.
A case was filed. A sexagenarian mother and her son were killed as their Naogaon bound private car fell into a canal from Poutabhanga bridge on Dhaka-Naogaon highway in Adamdighi upazila here early on Monday.
The victims were identified as Roisa Begum, 65, and her son Abdur Rob, 48, of Shahjadpur village in Naogaon Sadar upazila. The car was driving by Abdur Rob.
Witnesses said the Naogaon bound car coming from Dhaka plunged into the canal at 12:15am while crossing the under construction bridge leaving them dead on the spot.
Later, police recovered the bodies and handed those to their relatives.

   WB to provide US$ 292 m to develop infrastructure
UNB, Dhaka

The World Bank will provide US$ 292 million to Bang-ladesh to support developing infrastructure through public-private partnerships and also for improvement of the education sector.
The government today (Monday) signed two credit agreements with the Intern-ational Development Asso-ciation, the World Bank's concessional arm, in this regard to receive the fund, said a World Bank press release.
The World Bank Board of Executive Directors app-roved additional financing on May 4 this year for providing US$257 million as long term finance for infrastructure under a project titled Investment Promotion and Financing Facility. Another amount of US$ 35 million was approved at the same time to finance the Reaching Out-of-School Children Project. The World Bank said the additional financing for the Investment Promotion and Financing Facility, in operation since 2006, will expand on the project's successful experience in supporting public-private partnerships in the power sector.
The multilateral lending agency has successfully boo-sted national electricity generation capacity through independent power producers by adding 178 Megawatts to the national grid and to the Dhaka and Chittagong exp-ort processing zones. The Facility operates under the oversight of the Bang-ladesh Bank with funds allocated to local financial institutions for on-lending to private infrastructure projects.
The additional financing for Reaching Out-of-School Chil-dren Project will support the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education by improving acc-ess to quality primary education for disadvantaged children. Since 2005, the Project has enrolled over 500,000 out-of-school children in 15,000 Learning Centers established in 60 upazilas with particularly high poverty levels and low enrollment rates.
Today, over 80 percent of these students have gained competency in Bangla and mathematics. The Learning Centers stand out for their student and teacher attendance rates of over 90 percent.
The World Bank said the additional financing will enable enrolled students to complete the full primary cycle, while expanding access to about 30 additional upazilas and enrolling 250,000 more children who are currently not in school.

    Education Policy implementation will be a great challenge: Nahid

UNB, Dhaka

Education Minster Nurul Islam Nahid on Monday said that the implementation of the newly announced 'National National Education Policy -2010' will be a great challenge for the government to fulfill given the people's expectations.
"All the people of the country including opposition parties and Alim-Olamas welcomed the national education policy. It is a rare event in our country. Now, it is a great challenge for us to implement the education policy," he said.
Nahid made the remark while addressing the meeting of the National Educ-ation Policy -2010 Imple-mentation Committee at the International Mother Lang-uage Institute in the city. Chaired by committee chairman National Professor Kabir Chowdhury, the meeting was attended, among others, by Primary and Mass-education Minister Afsarul Amin, State Minister Motahar Hosain and Education secretary Sayed Ataur Rahman.
Speaking on the occasion, Nurul Islam Nahid said although six education-policies were announced after the 1962 education movement, none of them could be implemented for providing a guideline to the country's education sector.
"After taking power, the incumbent government led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had formed a committee to announce non-communal and modern education policy and the committee published a draft education policy within four months," he said.
Recalling the positive response from all strata at the announcement of the policy, Nahid said this is the first time in the country that nobody raised their voice in cabinet in announcing the national education policy.
"Two former Education Ministers, former DU VC Emazuddin Ahmed and convener of the Education Policy-2003 Implementation Committee Prof Moni-ruzzaman Mia also welcomed the National Education Policy -2010," he said.
The Education Minister also urged all to come forward in implementation of the national education policy for creating a modern, technology and knowledge-based new generation.

    ECNEC sits today to consider 10 projects
UNB, Dhaka

The Executive Committee on the National Economic Council (ECNEC) sits on Tuesday to consider 10 development projects including four projects in the power sector.
ECNEC chairperson and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will preside over the 35th meeting of the current fiscal at the NEC in the city's Sher-e-Bangla Nagar. The power projects to be considered for the meeting are Bheramara Combined Cycle Power Plant (360 MW) Development Project under the Power Division, Shunt Compensation at Grid Substation (132 KV) by capacitor Bank Phase-1 (revised) project under the Power Division, Ishwardi-Baghabari-Sirajganj-Bogra 230 KV Distribution Line (revised) project under the Power Division and Rural Electrification Up Gradation Rajshahi, Rangpur, Khulna and Barisal Division under the Power Division.
The other projects are Integrated Protected Area Co-management (IPAC) Nishorgo project under the Environment and Forest Ministry, Construction of 0.48 lakh MT Capacity New Food Godowns with Ancillary Facilities at Halishahar CSD Compound Chittagong under the Food Division, Construction of 1.35 lakh MT Capacity New Food Godowns project also under the Food Division, Construction of 11 Regional Passport Offices in different districts and divisional cities under the Home Ministry, Joydevpur-Mymensingh Road Improvement Project under the Communications Ministry and Skills & Training Enhancement Project under the Education Ministry.

Editorial

Tariff on import of newsprint

Newspaper Owners' Association of Bangladesh (NOAB) has urged the government to eliminate tariff on newsprint import considering its abnormal price hike in the international market. Referring to the price hike of newsprint by $150 per ton, NOAB demanded tariff reduction from present 3 percent to zero to save the newspaper industry. NOAB said the caretaker government had a zero tariff policy for newsprint. The prime minister last year assured the newspaper owners that the government would consider slashing import duties if the price of newsprint increases in the international market, it mentioned.
It is a genuine demand and expectation from the NOAB that in the new budget a zero tariff on the import of newsprint will be introduced as against the prevailing 3 per cent tariff. This is essential for the survival of the newspaper industry as it is already plunged in a severe crisis and the continuation of the present tariff rate will aggravate the situation further.
The newspaper industry is passing through a state of serious hardship as the total publication cost has soared sharply due to price hike of equipment and rise in the salary and allowances of the journalists and other employees for implementing the seventh Wage Board award. The Present import duty on newsprint even after the price hike in international market will further intensify this hardship. We hope that the government will realise the problems facing the newspaper industry and withdraw the duty on newspaper import totally. Aallowing import of newsprint without duty is very much essential for keeping the publication of the newspapers and free flow of information undisturbed. And hence, the government should consider the demand of NOAB for zero import duty on newsprint favourably as a special case relating to right to information.

  Belated but positive steps

Better late than never. The government has at last initiated a move to demolish the unauthorised and faulty buildings in the city and remove the chemical godowns and factories soon from the densely populated areas of old city. Such measures have been long overdue and it is good that these are in the process of being done.
According to press reports: The government decided on Sunday to demolish illegal high-rises in the capital which are in danger of tumbling, said Food and Disaster Management Minister Abdur Razzaque. Legal action will also be taken against illegal chemical factories and stockpiling of chemicals in old parts of the city, he said. The decisions came at a meeting of inter-ministerial Disaster Management Coordination Committee following the recent building tumbles in Begunbari and the inferno in Nimtoli. Two taskforces--one led by the Ministry of Housing and Public Works and the other by the Ministry of Industries--have been formed to monitor and investigate the issues. It has also been decided that more small vehicles will be imported for the Department of Fire Service and Civil Defence so that firefighters can move fast in the areas through narrow lanes, especially in the old town.
Meanwhile, Home Minister Advocate Sahara Khatun Sunday said that all illegal chemical factories and godowns would be removed soon from the densely-populated areas of old Dhaka."The RAJUK will be instructed to strictly follow the building code and remove all illegal structures from the densely populated areas with narrow lanes and congested houses," she told journalists after visiting the place of occurrence at Nabab Katra where some 120 people, including women and children, were burnt to death on June 3.
The RAJUK authorities on Monday morning started demolition of the seven-storey building in Begunbari area of the capital which tilted three days ago. Most of the concrete buildings in Begunbari area are identified as illegal because the buildings have been constructed without RAJUK approvals. RAJUK has given a seven-day time for demolishing another four-storey building, which tilted at capital's Gandaria. The government decided to demolish illegal high-rises, which are in danger of tumbling in the capital after the illegal building tilted in Begunbari on Friday and 25 people were killed in a building collapse in the same area Tuesday night.
The demolition of unauthorised and faulty buildings and removal of shops factories and godowns from densely inhabited congested areas should have been done long before. Because these can create disasters as have been witnessed recently. It is unfortunate that this 400 year old city has grown up in a most unplanned and haphazard way. Even after the Dhaka Improvement Trust (DIT) was formed during Pakistan period and it was transformed into RAJUK after independence, urbanisation did not take place in a well-planned way. No where in the world perhaps commercial and business established are allowed to grow indiscriminately in the residential ares. But this is witnessed in old Dhaka and also in Dhanmandi,Gulshan and Banani. Not only schools, colleges, universities, shopping malls, hotels, restaurants, but also shops and godowns of dangerous, toxic and explosive goods are allowed to be set up in residential districts although this prohibited under law. And the least is said about construction of buildings violating the RAJUK approved plan and the building code, the best.
It is encouraging that the government has moved to act, though only after some very tragic incidents that took place in recent days in the city. It is hoped that the process of demolishing unauthorised buildings and removing shops, factories and godowns of chemicals will be removed from old city and other densely populated and residential areas.

Analysis

Individual crime and collective responsibility

As the world descends into the medieval madness of devastating entire communities for the crimes and indiscretions of a few, the question must be raised regarding its legitimacy.

Ralph Shaw

Here we go again. A ticking time bomb in Times Square, New York, that, to the good fortune of all concerned, did not go off. The US Secretary of State issued an apoplectic warning to Pakistan of dire consequences, and the Pakistani leaders, staying true to form, remained cringing and pusillanimous. Our respected foreign minister, whose gaffe for declaring Pakistan as being neutral in the wake of the Mumbai attacks, was largely missed by our yokelish media. He hastily declared that the failed attempt was a response to the American drone attacks in Pakistan. The revenge motive is widely accepted and attributed to terrorist acts by Pakistani leaders but it is a facile suggestion. Revenge has little to do with terrorism.
Jean-Francois Revel, French intellectual and writer, illuminates the issue in his book How Democracies Perish (1983) with remarkable insight. He says, "Terrorism has nothing to do with the indignation and spontaneous insurrection of the masses. Its roots are elsewhere. It is based on psychological conditioning, indoctrination, and military organisation into small, secret and fanaticised groups that have no need whatsoever of support from a general population." The Predator/Reaper attacks, potentially, can radicalise some segments of the FATA population and create a class of dissidents, but the sufferers cannot become lone predators on their own. The organisation, indoctrination and psychological conditioning factors mentioned by Revel are essential ingredients in the terrorist mix. It is highly doubtful that the rubes known to the world as the Taliban are the original source for these ingredients. Our learned cabinet members must reflect on these matters a little more before issuing shallow statements that perpetuate myths.
By way of an example, Revel cites the irrational violence that engulfed Peru in 1980 in the aftermath of electing Fernando Belaunde Terry as their first centrist president after a dozen years of socialist domination. Out of the blue and instantaneously, the country was engulfed by a terrorist campaign "that, given its scale, organisation, equipment and leadership, makes any theory that it was a spontaneous uprising by angry peasant masses implausible, to put it mildly."
As the world descends into the medieval madness of devastating entire communities for the crimes and indiscretions of a few, the question must be raised regarding its legitimacy. This insanity was very much part of the European feudal culture. The Norman lords, who conquered England in 1066 AD and ruled it for over two centuries, meted out severe collective punishments to the Anglos for individual crimes as a method of keeping the locals in line. Normally, the intensity and size of their response defied all sense of justice and fairness. This atavistic European insanity can be avoided if all parties agree to abide by the principle that nations will not be punished for the aggressive acts of individuals, which, in fact, is the modern international law. Soviet leader Khrushchev had it right when it came to individual crime and collective responsibility. In criticising Stalin for his mass deportation of Muslim populations of the Caucasus further east within the Soviet Union in 1943, Khrushchev wisely observed, "Not only no Marxist-Leninist but also no man of common sense can grasp how one can make whole nations responsible, including, women, children, old people, Communists and Komsomols, and expose them to misery and suffering for the hostile acts of individual persons or groups of persons." Caucasian Muslims were deported because their leaders had fraternised and possibly collaborated with the Germans during World War II.
Khrushchev's indictment of Stalin is based on sound moral reasoning and is equally applicable in inter-state relations. The argument that we are going to destroy you because some rogue members of your nation attacked us is nothing but pure sophistry. Collective punishment cannot be advocated for an individual's crimes if the perpetrator is disowned by his or her own community.
The concern arises, of course, that strict compliance to the international (and moral) law could give terrorists a free hand to hatch their murderous plots in one country, carry them out in another and then hide in their home countries where the native governments may not pursue them enthusiastically because the crime was committed outside of the native government's territory.
The solution to this dilemma could be an international police force created and mandated to tackle international crime. While the details of forming such a body are daunting and complex, the effort must be made because, in the absence of avenues that seek justice for the aggrieved nations, international terrorism could become the cause of international madness.
Even though there is little doubt that had the evil plot at Times Square succeeded, there would have been some kind of retribution against Pakistan, the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's bluster could be little more than self-interested political posturing. The fact that some other top officials have been on a more conciliatory tack towards Pakistan suggests that the secretary is working on her own political agenda. It seems that she still has her eye on the US presidency and her tough stance on the event is most likely calculated to counter the negative stereotype of women being soft on defence and crime.
Regardless of American office-holder's motivations, Pakistani leaders need to make the case that unless a connection between a criminal and the state is established, Pakistan cannot be held accountable for the crimes of Pakistani individuals. International law and basic moral precepts necessitate that a distinction between state crime and individual crime be maintained. In the absence of such distinction, a state's foreign policy, instead of being a constant mistress in the service of a state, is little more than a fickle jade.


Ralph Shaw is the pen name of a freelance writer, who lives and works in Pakistan. He can be reached at ralpshaw11@gmail.com

  Made in China one more time

Today, the costs of manufacturing such items are lower in countries like Bangladesh and Vietnam than in Guangdong.

Ang Yuen Yuen

It's a dying business, said the owner of a garment factory I met in Zhuhai, a city in Guangdong province. Like many in his line of business, he is packing up. Lured by abundant cheap labour, investors flooded to Zhuhai two decades ago. Gone, it seems, is the heyday of T-shirts, toys, plastic flowers, tiles, hooks, springs, and the like.
Today, the costs of manufacturing such items are lower in countries like Bangladesh and Vietnam ?than in Guangdong.
As labour costs continue to climb, is China set to lose its coveted spot as the world's workshop? Rising labour costs are inevitable. China's government introduced tough labour laws and a minimum wage in 2008. Recent policies to improve rural economic conditions have slowed the flow of migrants from the countryside. Workers are demanding higher compensation to match the fast-rising cost of living in China's cities, as manifested in an ongoing and high-profile labour strike at a Honda plant based in Guangdong. Salary was the major point of contention.
Workers on strike demanded a raise in pay from the current 1500 renminbi ($234.00) to 2000-2500 renminbi ($373.13) per month. Clearly, Chinese factories can no longer offer dirt-cheap prices.
Apparel production is a prime example of China's declining competiveness in markets dependent on low-cost labour. According to a study by the US consulting firm Jassin O'Rourke, labour costs in China are higher than in seven other Asian countries. The average cost for a worker is $1.08 per hour in China's coastal provinces and $0.55-0.80 in the inland provinces. India was in seventh place, at $0.51 per hour. Bangladesh offers the lowest cost, only one-fifth the price of locations like Shanghai and Suzhou.
Adding to China's labour woes, the financial crisis during the last two years had a disastrous effect on foreign demand. In 2009, China's export value fell by 16 percent from 2008. Labour intensive industries were especially hard hit.
For Chinese manufacturers, a long-term trend of rising costs coupled with a short-term export slump were unprecedented challenges. But the government and entrepreneurs are not idly sitting by as competitiveness slips. These adverse conditions have inadvertently propelled a long-delayed restructuring of China's labour-intensive industries. As costs surge, Chinese producers are seeking higher value, new niches, and more influence over policymaking.
Along China's dynamic coastal belt, local governments are drafting new economic blueprints to push their firms up the value-added chain. Consider the case of a textiles manufacturing center in Jiangsu province, dubbed the "silk capital" of China. Three-quarters of the city's GDP had been coming from textiles production. Last year, however, exports fell by about 15 per cent. For local planners, the export shock was a wake-up call for change.
In fact, the global meltdown may turn out to be a blessing in disguise for industrial upgrading. Slumping orders devastated low-end producers, which barely survived on wafer-thin margins. Half of China's toy factories went bust by the end of 2008. Though alarming in the short term, the eradication of small producers spells good news for those that survived the crisis. As surviving firms gain in size, Chinese businesses may exercise more bargaining power vis-à-vis the Chinese government and foreign firms. Exercising a louder voice in politics at home and abroad could mean reduced uncertainty for Chinese exporters.
In decades to come, China can no longer sustain the cost advantages that defined its initial period of export success. But it is a mistake to think that China's manufacturing will remain in the doldrums. Compared to many developing countries, China's government is stable and embraces foreign investment. Industrial clusters have been established in many parts of the country, where business connections can compensate for rising costs. Domestic consumption is growing. Further, as low-end, low-cost labour jobs morph towards higher-end, higher-cost jobs, China will move not only into more valuable manufactured goods, but also into the service industries, such as design. This change, too, could give the US a difficult new run-for-its-money. When China's labour-intensive industries emerge from their metamorphosis, we should expect to see firms that are larger, that invest more in product innovation and design, and ?that hold more sway over business and trade policies. So "Made in China" is not losing international dominance yet. It is merely taking on a new - and possibly more formidable - shape.

Ang Yuen Yuen is Professor of International Affairs at Columbia University

  Kashmir violence

Countries that claim to be protagonists of democracy and freedom should play their role. The United States and Europe should pile pressure on India to hold plebiscite in Kashmir and stop human rights violations there.

Maqboolur Rehman Abbasi

Recently, normal life was adversely affected across the Kashmir valley due to a shutdown called by separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani to protest Congress President Sonia Gandhi's visit to Jammu.
All shops and business establishments were closed and traffic was off the roads. Educational institutions and banks were closed and there was thin attendance in government offices. Geelani, who had called for the shutdown, and chairman of the moderate faction of APHC Mirwaiz Umar Frooq, who supported the call, were taken into preventive custody. Mirwaiz had said that the APHC had no personal enmity with Sonia but she was visiting the state as the head of the Congress party, which was responsible for the problems of the people in Kashmir. The Kashmir dispute has bedeviled relations between India and Pakistan and caused wars.
India does not want to resolve the issue despite the fact that it has to spend a huge amount of money on defense that could be otherwise used for development.
The Indian army has terrorized Kashmiris and made them hostages in their own land.
Countries that claim to be protagonists of democracy and freedom should play their role. The United States and Europe should pile pressure on India to hold plebiscite in Kashmir and stop human rights violations there.
Any decision taken by India and Pakistan without taking into account the wishes of the Kashmiri people will not be acceptable.
What is disappointing is that Pakistan is fighting its own battle with terrorists.
It has deployed tens of thousands of troops on its border with Afghanistan.
Islamabad also seems to be losing interest in the Kashmir issue because it is fighting on many fronts.

Viewpoints

Save the world from Zionism

From Dair Yassin massacre to the mass slaughter of Palestinian refugees in Sabra and Shatila camps in Lebanon, and from the Jenin refugee camp carnage to the total destruction of Gaza in 2008-09, Israel sets a new precedent with every new atrocity.

Aijaz Zaka Syed

Just when you think Israel cannot descend any lower, it surprises you with ever new depths of depravity. If anyone ever needed any more evidence about the absolutely evil, sick and homicidal nature of this regime, they got it last week. And if anyone still nurtured innocent hopes of peace and Israel's commitment to the peace process, dialogue, two-state solution and all that balderdash, Israel showed them what it thinks of their fond hopes and aspirations.
When Huwaida Arraf, the fiery spirit behind the Free Gaza campaign and co-founder of the International Solidarity Movement for Palestine, paid us a visit in Dubai last year with her equally committed husband Adam Shapiro, a Pakistani colleague and friend of mine who met and interviewed Huwaida with me, eagerly requested to be made part of her next aid mission to Gaza.
Huwaida, obviously uninitiated into the complexities of India-Pakistan relationship, promptly offered to put her on an Indian ship, saying some Indian friends were planning to join the Free Gaza mission with their own boat.
My Pakistani friend, ever proud of her national identity, was horrified at the suggestion. Nonetheless, she really wanted, like so many of us, to be part of the mission to break the inhuman siege of Gaza and its long suffering people. "It would be a great honour to die saving Palestinian lives," said my friend, almost breathless with emotion.
I nodded in agreement. Little did we realise then the seriousness of our words and the dangerous nature of the mission undertaken by Huwaida, still in Israeli detention, and numerous other peace activists and conscience keepers of the world.
Perhaps not even those 700 plus noble souls on board the Freedom flotilla who defied great odds and put their own lives on the line to save those imprisoned in Gaza ever suspected that Israel could go to the extent of attacking ships full of peace activists and humanitarian aid. Especially when those on board included top international journalists and prominent personalities from 32 countries.
But when you are dealing with Israel anything is possible. Ask the Palestinians. The history of the state whose very birth was soaked in innocent blood is replete with unprecedented crimes against the Palestinian people and crimes against humanity that would even shame the Nazis.
From Dair Yassin massacre to the mass slaughter of Palestinian refugees in Sabra and Shatila camps in Lebanon, and from the Jenin refugee camp carnage to the total destruction of Gaza in 2008-09, Israel sets a new precedent with every new atrocity. Every crime appears to create a new history of oppression and abuse of human dignity. But what the Israelis have done this time around is shocking even from their own standards.
Even Nazis and the most depraved mass murderers in history respected certain red lines. They spared international peacemakers, the Red Cross and relief agencies. But then when it comes to the state of Israel there are no red lines. Nothing is sacrosanct. Everything and everyone is fair game.
From the shock-and-awe attack on the USS Liberty, a battleship belonging to its own ally, friend and protector that killed scores of US marines, to this assault on the Gaza relief flotilla killing 19 peace activists, most of them from another ally and friend, Turkey, Israel routinely kills at will and casually annihilates everyone and everything in its way.
More important, it always gets away with murder, just as it did earlier this year in Dubai using the passports and identities of people belonging to friendly countries to assassinate a top Hamas commander.
The question is how long will this go on? When is enough, enough for Israel's protectors and the international community? How long can a tiny state with the population less than that of New York hold the entire world hostage?
Just like in those Hollywood features when a couple of lunatics hijack a plane full of passengers threatening to blow it up in air, Israel has hijacked our world and threatens to destroy it with its reckless actions and dangerous policies. Unless someone comes forward to take control of the plane before it blows up in air or crashes down to the ground, you can be as sure as hell we are all headed for the certain doom.
The brazen attack on the Freedom flotilla carrying 10,000 tonnes of food, medicines and other essentials to a starving, desperate population in Gaza is the plainest sign yet - if anyone ever needed it - that Israel is a clear and present danger to the peace and stability of our world.
This is not about Palestinians' rights or their never-ending persecution at the hands of a racist, evil state any more. This is now about the shared future of our world. Israeli policies have become a cancer not just for the Middle East but the entire civilised world. They have emerged as the greatest challenge to all that we have come to believe in and respect: peace, justice, freedom, respect for the basic rights and the rule of law.
If the international community does not act now, it will pay a huge price - perhaps even higher than it paid in the last two Great Wars. It's time to save the world from Israel and save the Zionist state from its own destructive self.
The terror on high seas has understandably outraged the world. This outrage of the global conscience must be channelled to confront the Zionist regime and end the seven decades of suffering of Palestinian people.
Just as the Soweto massacre gave birth to a global movement against the Apartheid regime in South Africa, eventually leading to its overthrow, this latest Israeli outrage and the sacrifices of numerous soldiers of peace must unleash an international movement against the Zionist oppression.
Tide has already turned against Israel, manifesting itself in millions of people around the world coming out on the streets, from Toronto to Tokyo, in spontaneous protests following the attack on the Gaza aid mission. It's these voices of conscience that may have forced Israel's European friends to condemn the terror on high seas in unequivocal terms.
Now President Barack Obama and his fellow Americans have to decide where they stand. Are they on the side of justice, freedom and an individual's right to live with dignity or are they on the side of Israel, no matter how many innocents it kills and no matter what new lows of degeneracy it plumbs in its hubris?
Is President Obama willing to stand up for what he believes in? Or would he rather play safe to end up as yet another wimp in the White House dancing to Israel's tunes? Whatever he eventually does, he must remember British historian and intellectual Edmund Burke's warning: "All it takes for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing."
Are you going to act now, Mr President, or you too have chosen to "do nothing" like so many of your predecessors?


The writer is opinion editor of the Khaleej Times. Email: aijaz@khaleejtimes.com

  The geography and suburbs of Bombay

South Bombay is where Jinnah stayed, on Malabar Hill. The wealthiest people in India live here, including the Ambani brothers, and the old-money Tatas and Birlas.

Aakar Patel

The British knew how to build cities, and India's cities are all their creations. The first one they built was Bombay, which they began to settle 325 years ago. It is far and away the best city in India. The British made Calcutta, and the urban parts of Madras, before starting to build New Delhi a century ago. They built that lovely city over 40 square kilometres in 20 years between 1911 and 1931. It isn't possible for Indians to build at that pace, and with such quality, even today. And yet for some reason we don't like the idea of being governed by competence, and we think the Raj was something bad, though it's difficult to explain why.
Bombay was created because the port of Surat, on the banks of the river Tapi 15 kilometres inland from the Arabian sea, silted over. The British shifted tens of thousands of Gujarati merchants - Hindus mainly but also Parsis and Muslims - to the part now called South Bombay. They were needed because they were the only skilled traders in India with experience of export.
Surat's merchants were tired of Mughal rule, which was incompetent by the 17th century. They also disliked having to bribe and pacify the warrior Shivaji, who looted Surat seven times beginning in 1664. They liked the British, who offered stability and, importantly, the rule of law. The British did not force the traders to move to Bombay, instead they offered incentives, such as free land and the right to settle civil disputes internally. India's constitution-writer Ambedkar wrote a paper in the 1950s in which he listed the merchants' demands and one of them was the "right to carry an umbrella" (accepted). The Gujaratis also wanted to be accommodated in the British fort when there were hostilities (accepted). The fort had been built there to protect the enormous natural harbour that could have made Bombay as powerful and wealthy as Hong Kong, but after the British left that did not happen.
The fort is now gone (though the area is still called Fort), and that area with its lovely Victorian buildings became the old business district. South Bombay is where Jinnah stayed, on Malabar Hill. The wealthiest people in India live here, including the Ambani brothers, and the old-money Tatas and Birlas.
The new money of information technology is in Bangalore, another fine city built by the British and, in the native's vengeance, renamed by Indians as we did all the others. The British talent was in building cities, our talent is in renaming them.
To return to South Bombay, it has a commercial area stretching from Fort to the edge of the sea at Nariman Point, where most of the modern business offices are. People get off Churchgate terminus and share taxis to Nariman Point, which is five minutes away.
South Bombay's residential area also includes Napean Sea Road. These two areas, commercial and residential, are connected by a curving four-kilometre road along the sea called Marine Drive, often shown in Bollywood movies. The price of flats in this large area can easily be Rs40,000 a square foot. That means a small two-bedroom flat costing Pakistani Rs8.5 crore (Rs85 million).
One aspect to globalisation which people might not know about (everyone knows about the call centres) is the number of employees companies like JP Morgan and Citibank have in Bombay. They're middle-class Indian boys who studied hard and now make millions.
The commercial area of South Bombay is where two-thirds of all capital market transactions happen. India has the largest stock exchange in the world in terms of companies listed. The market is 150 years old and initially traders would gamble on the price of cotton during the American Civil War (which ended in 1865). At the very edge of South Bombay is the base of the Western Naval Command. Though it's quite large, soldiers are rarely seen in the city. Generally speaking, it's a rare thing to see an army officer or jawan or a naval rating in our cities.
South Bombay meets the rest of the city through two roads, one along the sea and one through the city. The one through the city is the area of Byculla, which is where Muslims from North India have settled for a couple of centuries. There is a long fly-over snaking over the area, which begins at Haj House, a huge building very close to Victoria Terminus. Haj is subsidised by the Indian government for tens of thousands of Muslims each year and political parties quarrel over whether a secular state should do this.
The road along the sea descends through Pedder Road (I'm sure we've renamed it, though I do not know to what), and becomes central Bombay where the most beautiful dargah in India is located. The dargah itself is the same as other such buildings, but it's the setting that makes it special. Haji Ali is in the middle of the sea, with a narrow walkway to reach it. The walkway disappears when the tide comes in.
Inland from Haji Ali, perhaps a couple of kilometres down the road, is Bombay Central. It is the third giant railway terminus of Bombay, and all three were built by the British.
Moving further north from Haji Ali is the area of Prabhadevi, dominated by Marathis. Inland from it is Matunga, which has a South Indian population. Each part of Bombay has different sorts of restaurants that have sprung out of the community that settled there first. The exception is South Bombay, which is cosmopolitan in every way.
The road by the sea ends at Mahim, an area of Gujarati and North Indian Muslims. The large dargah of Makhdoom Ali Mahimi is on the left and St Michael's church is on the right. The inland road ends at Dharavi, the famous slum that is now quite a busy commercial area.
Both areas converge into Bandra, where I live. You could also drive to Bandra from over the sea. This is through a new bridge that connects Prabhadevi to Bandra. It took us 10 years to build.
Bandra is a Catholic area and the first of Bombay's suburbs. All the areas we have seen so far were once islands. The Mahim causeway connects this part to the rest of Bombay. Bandra begins with the mosque of the Kasai Jamaat to the right (Pakistanis will be taken aback at the number of Muslims in India) and a series of churches by the sea on the left, one of which, St Andrews, is 500 years old.
Bandra was settled by Catholics but there are probably more Hindus and Muslims living here now than Christians. My flat, which is quite small and located on Convent Road, is five minutes' walk from the sea and six minutes' walk from my office. The inland part of Bandra is called Bandra (East). All areas of Bombay have a west side, which faces the sea and is the more expensive part, and an east side, which is poorer. The line separating the two is the tracks of our very good local train network.
Along the sea from Bandra are the suburbs of Khar, Santa Cruz and Vile Parle. I grew up in Vile Parle (East), before moving to Surat when I was nine. Vile Parle is a Gujarati and Marathi area and has a lot of high-culture activity like classical music and theatre. Leaving this suburb we come to Juhu, where Amitabh Bachchan has his many homes. Juhu has a large beach and families gather there every evening. It has restaurants along the water and you can sit on hot afternoons with a chilled drink and watch the water. After this comes Andheri, which is the heart of Bollywood and television. All the serials on Hindi channels are made here and most of the actors stay here. Andheri is different, and new. It's quite shiny, as might be expected. It is malls and glass-front buildings and chain restaurants.
I see I have approached the end of my piece, and we haven't yet seen more than a third of this city. But in one way this is actually fine. Andheri is quite anarchic and the traffic is awful. South Bombay has the best regulated traffic in Bombay. As we leave it and come north, this sense of order breaks down slowly till, by the time we get to Andheri, the streets are as chaotic and mindless as they are in all other cities of the subcontinent. And you are probably as familiar with those sights as I am.


The writer is a director with Hill Road Media in Bombay. Email: aakar @hillroadmedia.com

  Cash for work

For the World Economic Forum, discussions about growth and investment should not exclude exploration of job creation for the poor.

Ajay Chhibber

Mongolian herders and rural Indians, two seemingly disparate peoples, could bring valuable insights to the forthcoming World Economic Forum on East Asia. Both groups have suffered from multiple crises and both are climbing their way out through innovative schemes.
While business and political leaders gather in Ho Chi Minh City at the World Economic Forum to explore ways to sustain the region's recovery from the recent economic crisis, they should not lose sight of the importance of investing in people and their welfare.
Rapid pace of growth is unquestionably necessary for substantial poverty reduction, but for this growth to be sustainable it should be broad-based across sectors. It is essential to strike a balance between stimulating investment and consumption for growth, with meeting social sector needs of 900 million living in poverty across the region.
Asia's spending on social protection is relatively low compared with other regions of the world. Fortunately, social protection schemes are multiplying in the region. In the late 1990s, South Korea introduced an employment insurance system with preventive measures for employment stabilisation and promotion.
Thailand introduced a universal 30 baht health insurance scheme. Under this policy, the insured receive the same quality health services as offered by other health schemes. Over the years, Thailand has added nearly 14 million people to the system and achieved near-universal coverage without compromising access for those with prior coverage.
India has adopted an ambitious social-protection scheme called the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act. It is the first programme of its kind backed by national legislation to enhance livelihood security by providing at least 100 days of guaranteed wage employment in a year to every household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work. If work cannot be found then compensation must be paid by the state. Last year under this scheme, 46 million households were provided employment. This programme is backed by political will and the necessary budgetary resources, creating the world's largest 'cash for work' scheme.
Besides supporting the monitoring and management of this programme, UNDP has provided support to improve transparency, delivery of social services and access to financial services. This is one model that could be adapted to local needs in other countries, not just as an emergency relief measure, but as a scheme that can provide impetus to sustainable development.
In Mongolia, an initiative sponsored by the UNDP, is offering hope and a future to thousands of herders who are trying to reboot their lives and the country's economy after the worst winter that anyone can remember. Across the country, more than 8.5 million goats, sheep, horses, camels, yaks and cows died from the cold, leaving the herders without income. Through a cash-for-work project, herders will earn a decent wage for removing and burying the carcasses. It is much-needed money at a time when debts are due and food and other supplies are running low.
Policymakers in countries in Asia are taking a serious look at a range of social protection measures, including massive employment schemes, that have worked in the region and elsewhere, to provide relief to those who are struggling to cope with the impacts of multiple crises. For the World Economic Forum, discussions about growth and investment should not exclude exploration of job creation for the poor. After all, growth in the big economies is meaningless if millions of people in the region are left behind.


The writer is UN assistant secretary general, UNDP assistant administrator and director for UNDP's regional bureau for Asia and the Pacific.

International

Guilty verdicts 25 years after India's Bhopal gas disaster
AFP, Bhopal, India

An Indian court sentenced the former top managers of the company blamed for the massive Bhopal gas leak 25 years ago to two years in prison on Monday in the first convictions over the catastrophe.
Eight people were found guilty in the local court in Bhopal, capital of central Madhya Pradesh state, over the 1984 incident which poisoned tens of thousands of people in the world's worst industrial accident.
A lethal plume of gas escaped from a storage tank at the US-run Union Carbide pesticide factory in the early hours of December 3, 1984, killing thousands in the surrounding slums and residential area.
Among those found guilty of criminal negligence was the chairman of the Indian unit of US group Union Carbide, Keshub Mahindra, a leading industrialist who is now chairman of car and truck group Mahindra & Mahindra.
The guilty, also including the managing director, the production manager and the plant supervisor, were all sentenced to two years in prison and were ordered to pay a fine of 100,000 rupees (2,100 dollars), lawyers told reporters.
All of them are now expected to launch appeals and will not be jailed immediately. One of the eight convicted, R.B. Roychoudhury, has already died.
Warren Anderson, the American then-chairman of the US-based Union Carbide parent group, was among the accused but he was not named in the verdicts after the Bhopal court declared him an "absconder".
The company executives were originally charged with culpable homicide but-to the outrage of survivors and victims-the Supreme Court in 1996 reduced the charges to death by negligence with maximum imprisonment of just two years.
"Even with the guilty judgement, what does two years' punishment mean?" Sadhna Karnik, of the Bhopal Gas Victims Struggle group, told AFP.
"They will be able to appeal against the judgement in higher courts," he said.
Outside the court on Monday, victims and members of human rights groups anxiously waited. Some shouted that the verdict was an "insult." Others criticised the time it had taken for the convictions.

   Afghan resignations blow to US-led security drive
AFP, Kabul

The shock departure of two of Afghanistan's most respected security chiefs at a critical juncture in the US-led fight against the Taliban threatened to leave a void Monday and raised questions about unity.
Interior minister Hanif Atmar and head of intelligence Amrullah Saleh were out of office just days after militants fired rockets towards a key peace conference, embarrassing President Hamid Karzai mid-way through a speech.
The presidency said they were summoned to account for last week's attack-which was thwarted and failed to hurt any of the 1,600 delegates at the "peace jirga"-and had resigned over security failings.
Atmar had been on the job since 2008 and Saleh since 2004. They were among the most respected members of Karzai's government, both at home and in the Western capitals bankrolling an intensifying fight against the Taliban.
As interior minister Atmar was responsible for building up the police, which has struggled with poor equipment and recruitment records. As director of the National Directorate of Security, Saleh was key in anti-Taliban operations. In an administration plagued by allegations of corruption, they were seen as efficient and talented administrators with perfect grasp of English and a good understanding of the scale and precise nature of what needed to be done.
Afghanistan's ability to take responsibility for securing its borders and quelling the Taliban insurgency is seen as vital to US plans to end engagement in an increasingly costly and deadly nine-year war.
But Atmar and Saleh reportedly had serious reservations about Karzai's approach to brokering peace talks with the Taliban-a proposal which was endorsed by last week's jirga. US commanders and officials have also privately expressed worries that Karzai's strategy has not been well-planned.
But US Defence Secretary Robert Gates avoided criticising Karzai over the removal of the officials, calling it an "internal matter for the Afghans." "I would just hope that President Karzai will appoint, in the place of those who have left, people of equal calibre," Gates told reporters.
US General Stanley McChrystal, who has orchestrated a strategy designed to reverse the Taliban momentum and lead to a phased American withdrawal beginning next summer, is understood to have worked well with both officials.

  Indonesian prison authorities red-faced over jailbreak
AFP, Jakarta

Indonesian police are hunting 26 prisoners who escaped from a jail in restive Papua province on the weekend after most of their guards failed to report for duty, an official said Monday.
The prisoners including robbers and rapists used a rope to scale a four-metre (13-foot) outer wall at Abepura prison, Jayapura district, on Saturday, Abepura prison chief Liberti Sitinjak told AFP. "I'm extremely embarrassed. Our officers are not disciplined. Only three of the seven guards turned up for duty that day," he said.
"The prison isn't properly secured... the wire fence separating the wall and building is damaged so the prisoners could run away easily." He said more prisoners were "waiting their turn" to climb the wall when guards finally spotted them and put an end to the breakout. Eighteen other inmates escaped from the same prison last month amid reports of a bitter rivalry between wardens over who should be running the jail.
Police have set up roadblocks around Jayapura and along the border with Papua New Guinea in a bid to catch the escapees.
"We're also carrying out an internal investigation to see if our officers were unprofessional and need to be expelled," Sitinjak said. Indonesia's prison system is riddled with corruption, drug abuse and disease, according to independent monitors. Human rights experts say inmates in Papua, including political prisoners, are often abused and tortured.
Papua's ethnic Melanesian majority has waged a low-level separatist insurgency for decades but foreign reporters and aid workers are denied access to investigate claims of genocide and crimes against humanity.

  Malaysian PM condemns Israel as world gangstaer
AFP, Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia's prime minister on Monday condemned Israel as "world gangsters" and said it should face the International Criminal Court over the deadly Gaza aid flotilla attack.
"Malaysia will urge the United Nations Security Council to tackle Israel's aggressive acts and to have those who committed such heinous crimes to be brought before the International Criminal Court (ICC)," premier Najib Razak told parliament.
In a motion condemning last week's raid on a Turkish vessel which left nine dead, he also called on the United States to make Israel behave responsibly.
"The Israeli commandos shot the activists point blank and even from the back, and this is an act of a coward which cannot be forgiven," he said.
"These blatant acts occurred because the world gangsters, Israel, feel they are protected by a world power."
Najib also urged Israel to pay compensation for confiscated humanitarian aid and for the "physchological, emotional and physical trauma brought upon the activists". Malaysian lawmakers later unanimously backed Najib to condemn Israel's raid.
Meanwhile Foreign Minister Anifah Aman said the United Nations Security Council should issue a resolution condemning Isreal's aggression and haul its leaders to the ICC.
"The world including the European countries came out with a very strong statement but what the UN said was very very weak, so we urge the UN to issue a stronger statement... " he said.
Israel's commando assault on the Gaza aid flotilla has triggered widespread outrage in Malaysia, which does not recognise the Jewish state.
Another vessel in the fleet, the Rachel Corrie, was sponsored by a Malaysian foundation and had six Malaysian activists on board when it was seized on Saturday as it tried to break the blockade on Gaza.
The Malaysian activists were deported to Jordan and are due to arrive home on Monday evening.
Some 5,000 Malaysians including opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim rallied Friday outside the US embassy in Kuala Lumpur where the Israeli flag was burned in protest over the raid.

  Japan's new PM rides high in polls ahead of inauguration
AFP, Tokyo

Japan's new Prime Minister Naoto Kan, riding high on opinion poll ratings above 60 percent, pledged a fresh start Monday on the eve of the formal inauguration of his centre-left government.
Kan-who was voted in by parliament Friday and formally takes power Tuesday after his cabinet's inauguration by Emperor Akihito-reshuffled the leadership of his Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) on Monday.
Former finance minister Kan sidelined a scandal-mired veteran party powerbroker dubbed the "Shadow Shogun" to signal a change from the outgoing leadership ahead of crucial upper house elections next month.
DPJ lawmakers backed the departure of party secretary general Ichiro Ozawa, who reluctantly stood down last week along with premier Yukio Hatoyama as both men had been embroiled in damaging political funds scandals.
"We are going to relaunch and continue prime minister Hatoyama's vision," Kan told lawmakers. "To create stable government, we must not lose the upper house election. I would like all party members to unite and achieve victory." Party lawmakers rose and chanted: "We will fight! We will fight!"
Kan-a one-time leftist activist who served as finance minister and deputy premier under Hatoyama-has enjoyed a honeymoon so far, with support ratings above 60 percent compared to less than 20 percent for his predecessor. Newspaper editorials have been upbeat about the "son of a salaryman" and contrasted his family roots with the privileged backgrounds of recent premiers such as Hatoyama, the millionaire grandson of a prime minister.

  N.Korea lawmakers to meet amid rising tensions
AFP, Seoul

North Korea's parliament was to hold a rare second annual session Monday amid growing tensions with South Korea, as Seoul pushed for UN condemnation of its neighbour over the sinking of a warship. The legislators could announce top-level personnel changes in preparation for a leadership succession or issue a tough response to the South's charges that the North torpedoed one of its corvettes, an analyst said.
It will be the first time since 2003 that the hardline state has summoned its rubber-stamp Supreme People's Assembly twice in a year.
South Korea announced Friday it has referred the attack to the UN Security Council, after investigators from five countries said last month that a North Korean submarine sank the warship Cheonan in March with the loss of 46 lives. The UN move sparked a furious response from the North, which has warned that the crisis could trigger all-out war.
"The South Korean puppets will never avoid a stern punishment by our military and people... if they continue the smear campaign against the DPRK (North Korea)," it said Sunday.
Seoul's ally Washington strongly supports the UN move, but China and Russia-both veto-wielding council members-have not stated their position. Vice Foreign Minister Chun Yung-Woo will visit China for two days from Tuesday to try to secure its support, Seoul's foreign ministry said.
US Defence Secretary Robert Gates told an Asian security forum Saturday that his country "is assessing additional options to hold North Korea accountable". He warned of possible new provocations but admitted in a BBC interview that ways to change the North's behaviour are limited.
Gates said Friday that joint US-South Korean naval exercises may be put off to allow more time for UN diplomacy, but the North still blasted the planned drill.

  Govt. submits reply to SC in NRO verdict review case
Dawn, Online

The federation's lawyer on Monday submitted a written reply to the Supreme Court regarding a petition to review its National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) verdict.
In his reply, Barrister Kamal Azfar stated that the Supreme Court had made a mistake in its December 16, 2009 judgment on the NRO by asking the government to reopen Swiss cases against President Asif Ali Zardari.
The Swiss cases against President Zardari were withdrawn legally, the reply stated.
The counsel's reply maintained that NRO beneficiaries were neither served notices nor given an opportunity to explain themselves.
The reply further stated that conviction in absentia had no place in Pakistan's criminal law.
The 17-judge full court read the counsel's reply and adjourned the hearing of review petitions against the NRO verdict till Wednesday.

  Three militants killed in Afghanistan
AFP, Kandahar, Afghanistan

Three militants armed with bombs and guns were killed in an attack on an Afghan police training centre in Kandahar on Monday, but there were no other casualties, an official said.
One of the rebels detonated a bomb-filled car along the wall of the facility in a bid to punch open a route for his comrades in the southern province, the interior ministry said in the capital Kabul. The two others were shot dead by police guards outside the centre near Kandahar city, ministry spokesman Zemarai Bashary told AFP.
"We had three suicide bombers killed. We had zero casualties," Bashary said, adding that the bombers failed to penetrate the walled training centre.
The spokesman said that one of the bombers detonated a car bomb before two other militants wearing suicide vests and carrying guns died in police fire.
"They caused no casualties to police," the interior ministry said. An AFP reporter said the explosion knocked down part of the wall. There was no claim for the bombing but similar attacks have in the past been blamed on the Taliban, which is leading a nearly nine-year insurgency to bring down the Western-backed government and evict 130,000 US-led foreign troops.

  Ahmadinejad to visit China to discuss sanctions
AFP, Tehran

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is heading to China this week to discuss the threat of new UN sanctions over Iran's nuclear programme, as US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said world powers have the necessary votes at the Security Council.
Ahmadinejad will be attending Expo Shanghai 2010, but will also meet top Chinese officials to discuss Iran's nuclear programme, the threat of sanctions and a fuel swap deal for a Tehran research reactor brokered by Brazil and Turkey last month, Iranian state television reported on Monday.
His visit to Security Council veto-wielding permanent member China takes on particular significance as a vote on a new sanctions package looms after the United States introduced a draft resolution last month. China, which has emerged in recent years as Iran's main trading partner, continues to insist on diplomacy to resolve the standoff over Tehran's nuclear programme but US officials say they have Beijing's support for the sanctions resolution. Before heading to China, Ahmadinejad was due to hold a round of meetings in Istanbul where he was attending a regional security and confidence building conference on Monday.

 No Israel normalisation without international probe: Turkey

AFP, Ankara

Normalisation of ties with Israel is out of the question if it rejects an international inquiry into the deadly raid on Gaza-bound aid ships, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Monday.
"If Israel... gives the green light for the establishment of an international (inquiry) commission and is ready to answer to the commission, then naturally Turkish-Israeli ties will follow a different path," Davutoglu told reporters.
"But if it continues to evade that, normalisation in relations would be out of the question," he said.
The May 31 raid on the aid flotilla, in which nine Turks were killed, plunged already strained ties between the once-close allies into deep crisis, with Turkey recalling its ambassador from Tel Aviv and scrapping joint military drills.
Asked about the future of a Turkish-Israeli military cooperation deal signed in 1996, Davutoglu said that "discussions on the issue are still under way" and that Israel's response to the crisis would shape Ankara's decision.
"Does any country have the right to intercept a civilian ship sailing in international waters? That's the primary question... We cannot let any country do harm to our citizens knowingly and deliberately," he said.
"If they do not agree to (an international inquiry), it would mean that there are certain facts they want to hide... Turkey is ready to answer all questions on this issue," he said.
The UN Human Rights Council Wednesday condemned Israeli's "outrageous attack" on the ships and set up an independent international investigation into the raid.
Israel Sunday resisted pressure for an international probe of the raid, and its ambassador to Washington, Michael Oren, said on US television that his country rejects "the idea of an international commission."
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has launched ferrocious attacks on the Jewish state, calling the raid "state terror".
And his deputy, Bulent Arinc, said Friday that Turkey would reduce economic and defence industry ties with Israel "to a minimum level."
Military and defence industry cooperation became the driving force behind the Turkish-Israeli alliance after the 1996 pact.

   Abbas to send ‘reconciliation team’ to Hamas in Gaza
AFP, Istanbul

Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas said Monday that he would send a delegation to the Gaza Strip to seek reconciliation with the Islamist Hamas movement after Israel's deadly aid flotilla raid.
"The best answer to (the raid)... is for Palestinian groups to reconcile and resist Israel hand-in-hand," Abbas told Turkey's NTV news channel in Istanbul where he was to attend a meeting of an Asian security grouping.
"We have put together a delegation from the Palestinian leadership to go to Gaza and persuade Hamas to reconcile," he said with a voice-over translation into Turkish.
The only condition for reconciliation is for Hamas to accept the plan drawn up by Egypt last year which called on the two groups to make peace and hold elections, he said.
"I believe and hope that this time we will succeed," the Palestinian leader added.
Abbas's Fatah movement and Hamas have remained deeply divided since the Islamists seized control of Gaza in 2007, in a rift that has widened since Israel's devastating war on the enclave in late 2008 and early 2009.
Israel has sealed Gaza off to all but very limited humanitarian aid in a bid to pressure Hamas to end cross-border rocket attacks.
Abbas described as a "massacre" last week's Israeli raid on a flotilla of aid ships bound for Gaza which left nine Turks dead, and called for more aid convoys to pressure the Jewish state into scrapping the blockade.
"If these convoys have been unsuccessful in lifting the blockade, then efforts must undoubtedly be intensified," he said of the crippling restrictions which have been in place since 2006.
"All methods must be tried in order to end the embargo and pressures imposed on the Palestinian people."

  Car bombs, gunmen kill 10 in Iraq attacks
AP/UNB, Baghdad

Ten people died in a series of attacks in Iraq on Monday, including three killed when a car bomb exploded in a Baghdad shopping area.
The late morning blast in the capital's western Mansour neighborhood came a day after another car bombing killed five people outside a Baghdad police station.
Monday's explosion wounded at least nine people and damaged several shops, according to security and hospital officials. Ball bearings, apparently packed inside the car to increase the number of casualties, littered the bomb site.
Although violence has fallen sharply in recent years, Iraqi security forces still struggle to stop deadly attacks from happening as U.S. troops prepare to withdraw.
The attacks threaten to further destabilize the country as political leaders jostle for control three months after indecisive parliamentary elections.
A third person was killed and eight were wounded when a bomb stuck to a minibus exploded in Baghdad's overwhelmingly Shiite slum of Sadr City in the morning, police and hospital officials said.
Outside the capital, attackers shot and killed a father and twoof his sons at home in the al-Zaidan village, near the town of AbuGhraib, west of the Iraqi capital.

  IAEA chief: Iran’s nuclear program special case
AP/UNB, Vienna

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency singled out Iran on Monday as a "special case" for his monitoring teams because of suspicions it might be hiding experimental nuclear weapons programs.
He also faulted both Iran and Syria - also suspected of hiding nuclear activities that could be used to make weapons - for holding back on cooperation with his agency, the U.N. nuclear monitor.
IAEA chief Yukiya Amano's opening comments Monday at the start of the agency's 35-nation board meeting set the focus for much of the gathering, with both Iran and Syria key agenda items.
Iran is stonewalling IAEA attempts to follow up on intelligence from the U.S. and other nations that suggests Tehran has hidden nuclear weapons experiments from the world. A fourth set of U.N.
Security Council sanctions may be passed in the next few days to punish its refusal to freeze uranium enrichment, which Iran says it wants to develop as a nuclear fuel source, but which can also be used to make nuclear warheads.
Syria is refusing IAEA requests for visits to a desert site bombed in 2007 by Israel warplanes that the U.S. says was a nearly completed reactor meant to produce plutonium as well as to other areas that agency suspects may be linked to the targeted structure.
"Iran is a special case because, among other things, of the existence of issues related to the possible military dimensions to its nuclear program," Amano told the closed meetings in comments made available to reporters. "Iran has not provided the necessary cooperation to permit the agency to confirm that all nuclear material in Iran is in peaceful activities."

  Al-Azhar expands religious television channel
AP/UNB, Cairo

An Arabic satellite television channel affiliated with al-Azhar University said Monday it is expanding its service to include programs in four other languages, as the world's pre-eminent Sunni Muslim institution looks to reach out to a broader global audience.
The channel, known as Azhari TV, was launched last year to give moderate Islam a greater voice to offset what critics say is growing radicalization in the Muslim world. The channel, which is closely linked to al-Azhar University, began airing last year in Arabic but is now expanding to English, French, Urdu and Pashto.
"There is a wide open market for religious moderation on the airwaves," Sheik Khaled el-Guindy, who heads Azhari TV and is also a member of Egypt's Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs, said in a statement. "We are competing with voices of intolerance for the attention and loyalty of young people. We believe we have the better product."
The new channel, Azhari TV 2, includes news programs, children's series, drama series, lectures, and call-in shows dubbed into English, French, Pashto and Urdu. It is expected to reach more than 325 million households in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.
The channel was launched shortly before President Barack Obama's call last year for greater dialogue between the West and Islamic world, and was aimed at promoting tolerance within the Islamic world as well as showing Islam's mainstream moderate side.
But el-Guindy said the channel has run into what he described as violent opposition.
"Those who misinterpret Islam for selfish purposes often see us as a threat" said el-Guindy. "We have been threatened with death due to our programming, as well as our social action. As Muslims, we must get away from this trend toward violence."
The station, in the statement, said it received a bomb threat after it took full page ads in Egyptian newspapers criticizing attacks on Coptic Christians earlier this year. The January attack, in which gunmen killed six Copts in southern Egypt, highlighted what activists and analysts say are tensions between Egypt's Christian minority and the Muslims who make up about 90 percent of the country's population.
"These threats serve as a vivid reminder that we are up against extremist elements who oppose our emphasis on dialogue and understanding between peoples of different faiths and cultures," said el-Guindy.

  Oil extends losses to near $70 as stocks sink
AP/UNB, Singapore

Oil prices fell to near $70 a barrel Monday in Asia, extending losses as regional stock markets sold-off amid fears Europe debt crisis is spreading.
Benchmark crude for July delivery was down $1.06 to $70.45 a barrel at late afternoon Singapore time after falling to as low as $69.51 earlier in the session in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract lost $3.10 to settle at $71.51 on Friday.
Oil traders often look to stock markets as a gauge of overall investor sentiment, and most Asian and European bourses plummeted Monday, extending a rout that began Friday with a 3.2 percent drop in the Dow Jones industrial average.
Weak U.S. employment data for May and fresh fears that Hungary must slash government spending to avoid a debt default have undermined confidence in global economic growth and oil demand.
"Investors are fleeing riskier assets so they're dumping stocks and oil," said Victor Shum, an energy analyst at consultancy Purvin & Gertz in Singapore. "The market may be overreacting a bit, but the jobs report shows that the U.S. economy is still struggling."
Some analysts point to falling U.S. crude inventories as a sign of improving crude demand and expect prices to rebound later this year.
"The shift in the market's view of forward fundamentals has been too extreme," Goldman Sachs said in a report.
"We continue to expect crude oil prices to move into an $85 to $95 trading range in the second half."

  Germany to unveil cuts to welfare, jobs
AP/UNB, Berlin

Germany was close to finalizing Monday a major package of government savings, which would likely cut social welfare benefits, slash public sector jobs, and raise taxes to tackle the budget deficit.
With the debt crisis undermining the euro, Chancellor Angela Merkel's government is determined to tackle Germany's deficit - which while among the smallest in Europe is still above the official EU limit.
Several other countries - notably Greece, Spain and Portugal - have already embarked on much tougher austerity drives.
Merkel brought together her Cabinet for a two-day meeting at the chancellery that started Sunday to discuss the package. She said as she went into the meeting that Germany can no longer live beyond its means, insisting "we can only spend what we take in."
"Our citizens' greatest concern is that public deficits could grow to become immense," Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said.
Measures reportedly under consideration include cuts to public-service jobs, a reduction of handouts to new parents and new taxes on power providers.
Germany had a budget deficit of 3.1 percent of gross domestic product last year. It is expected to exceed 5 percent this year, still well above the European Union's 3 percent threshold.
Officials say Germany needs to save euro10 billion ($12 billion) a year through 2016 to meet a constitutional balanced budget requirement.
Opposition politicians and union officials criticized the prospect of cutbacks on social spending.

Business/Economy

DSE rules out speculation of tax on capital gains
BSS, Dhaka

Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) authorities ruled out the speculation of imposition of tax on capital gains in the coming budget and claimed that the media report on this issue was rather speculative than based on official sources.
The DSE called an emergency press conference on Monday to give its reaction against the backdrop of nose diving stocks following a media report.
Quoting an anonymous government official, the report of a financial daily said that the investors would have to pay 5 per cent tax on the excess amount if they make annual profit of more than Taka 5 lakh from share trading.
DGEN, the DSE general index, plunged by 127.47 points or 2.05 per cent to close at 6067.43 from Sunday's closing of 6194.90.
The DSE officials strongly contradicted the report and said that they inquired with the government authorities about the authenticity of the source when no one confirmed any such official who talked to the particular newspaper on this issue.
"We believe that the government is not going to impose such tax on the capital market, which is growing and yet to get maturity for imposing capital tax," DSE President Md Shakil Rizvi told newsmen.
He said they proposed gain tax on corporate investors like banks, insurance and non-banking financial institutions, but suggested keeping individual investors out of the new tax- net.
Referring to the Chairman of the National Board of Revenue (NBR), former DSE president Rakibur Rahman said that the NBR boss also told the DSE authorities that they even were not thinking of such taxes.
Rahman sensed sabotage behind the report and demanded proper investigation to identify the official who tried to create panic in the country's growing capital market to disperse investors.
Stockbrokers, however, said that huge profit-taking from power sector companies was also a major reason behind the fall.
Referring to the daily turnover, they said the share transaction did not decline as the index did, which indicated confident buying even when selling pressure was high.
The turnover on Monday was Taka 1597 crore, which was only 5 per cent lower than Sunday's turnover of Taka 1,671 crore.

 FBCCI for bilateral trade between China and South Asia
UNB, Dhaka

Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) president Annisul Huq has urged Chinese help for promoting bilateral trade and economic cooperation between China and South Asia.
Annisul, who is also the president of the SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SAARC CCI) also emphasized preferential market access to South Asian countries in the vast Chinese market, while addressing the inaugural session of the 5th China-South Asia Business Forum (CSABF) held at Kunming, China on June 6.
He regarded Chinese investment as a tool to promote China- SAARC trade which was only $66 billion as compared with China's trade of $250 billion with ASEAN countries, said a press release.
Qin Guangrong, Governor of Yunnan Province of China, inaugurated the session stating that China was willing to establish profound economic relations with South Asian countries, which have great complementarities and potential to penetrate the world's second largest economy.
The inaugural session was also addressed by LGRD Minister Syed Ashraful Islam, Ghulam Mohammad Aylaqi, Minister of Commerce & Industry of Afghanistan, Mahinda Samarasinghe, Minister of Plantations of Sri Lanka and Ali Rasheed Hussain, Deputy Minister of Economic Development of the Maldives.
The leaders of China and the South Asian countries have expressed a firm commitment to further promoting socio-economic ties to explore the enormous potential in intra China- South Asian trade and work together to transform the two great civilizations into the world's leading economic power.
The SAARC CCI president said that China needs to play a role of big brother and to assist South Asian countries through technical assistance, transformation of technology, and relocation of labour-intensive industries to South Asian countries.
During the forum Annisul Huq, Tariq Sayeed, immediate past president of SAARC CCI and Iqbal Tabish secretary general presented a set of policy proposals while addressing a 'Cooperative Meeting between Chinese and South Asian Chambers.'
The cooperative meeting was also addressed by Luo Zhengfu, the Deputy Governor of Yunnan, China, who put forth proposals for formation of an Economic Advisory Board comprising statesmen, academicians and leading business figures of China and South Asia.
Annisul Huq in his presentation said that mutual cooperation between China and India was the demand of the time while future economic development of China and South Asia was inter-linked.
He also presented a 10-point agenda comprising flexible visa regime, identification and removal of non-tariff barriers, mutual recognition of certificates, infrastructure development, relocation of industries in mutually interested areas, joint ventures & investment, frequent exchange of business delegations and exhibitions, free trade agreement between China and South Asian nations and consideration of south Asian governments for China's inclusion in SAARC.

  Cut cross-border red tape to promote ASEAN trade
BSS/AFP, Ho Chi Minh City

Southeast Asian nations must coordinate efforts to cut cross-border red tape and promote regional road transport as they move towards a common market, industry players said on Monday.
Better links among the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) could reduce transport costs while boosting intra-regional trade and economic welfare, they said.
ASEAN is working towards establishing by 2015 a single market and manufacturing base of about 600 million people.
But business leaders and other experts at an international forum said there are still too many bureaucratic hurdles to a free flow of regional goods.
"There is no holistic approach to the supply chain from the governments' perspective, from any government's perspective," said Steven Okun, vice- president for public affairs with Singapore-based shipping firm UPS.
He said "there isn't the political will yet for ASEAN to look at these as a group of 10 countries... If we can do it collectively, trade within ASEAN is really going to grow."
He was speaking at the World Economic Forum on East Asia (WEF), a gathering of global business leaders and regional politicians.
A WEF study released ahead of the meeting said that, although Singapore leads the world in facilitating trade, significant barriers remain in the rest of the ASEAN region. Singapore kept the top rank it held in last year's study, but five other ASEAN members fell.
Barriers to trade in ASEAN "remain many and significant", primarily in border administration and transport infrastructure, said Thierry Geiger, a co- author of the study.

  Malaysia's Proton says Volkswagen ditches tie-up talks
BSS/AFP, Kuala Lumpur

Malaysian carmaker Proton said today that Europe's biggest automaker Volkswagen has scrapped alliance talks, a move expected to dent its attempts to conquer export markets.
Announcing the failure of the new round of talks, state- controlled Proton said Volkswagen would have been an "interesting" partner.
"During preliminary talks between the parties, Volkswagen confirmed that it currently has other priorities and that a potential collaboration with Proton could not be pursued," it said in a statement.
In 2007, the two companies were close to a possible tie-up, but talks were brought to a sudden close in November 2007 when the Malaysian government said it was no longer seeking a foreign partner.
Proton has been searching for a collaborator in a bid to penetrate foreign markets and develop attractive models to compete with growing competition from Japanese, European and Korean carmakers in its domestic market.
Ahmad Maghfur Usman, an auto analyst with OSK Research, said that without a strategic partner Proton will find it difficult to find success in export markets and will continue to depend heavily on the domestic arena.
"Proton will be able to survive even if they do not find a partner by selling in the domestic market, but margins will be low and it could slip further behind their competitors like Hyundai," he told AFP.
Ahmad said Proton's total production for its March 2010 financial year was 184,000 units, with 86 percent sold in Malaysia, while its plant utilisation was only 50-60 percent.
"A strategic alliance will allow Proton to optimise its low plant utilisation," he said.
Proton was formed in 1983 by then-premier Mahathir Mohamad as part of an ambitious national industrialisation plan. But it has suffered from a reputation for unimaginative models and poor quality.
Proton's net profit for the three months to the end of March stood at 22.8 million ringgit (6.87 million dollars), compared to a loss of 323 million ringgit in the same period a year ago.

  RCC announces budget of Tk 261.05 cr for 2010-11
BSS, Rajshahi

The Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC) Monday announced a budget of Taka 261.05 crore for 2010-11 fiscal at a press conference at the city bhaban seminar room.
Announcing the budget, RCC Mayor AHM Khairuzzaman Liton said the prime objective of the proposed budget is to enhance civic facilities and to present it as safe, healthy and habitable before the citizens without imposing any new tax.
He said Taka 222.63-crore budget had been announced for 2009- 10 fiscal year but that was revised at Taka 128.96 crore due to various reasons.
Highlighting expenditure budget, he said Taka 87.30 crore was earmarked in the budget for maintenance of road, infrastructure development, drinking water supply, mosquito eradication, street lighting and garbage removal.
In the proposed budget, Taka 49.77 crore will come from revenue sector and other different income sources of the RCC, Taka 27.68 crore from development assistance grant and Taka 183.60 crore from ADP grants and other uplift projects.
Likewise, Taka 49.77 crore has been earmarked for revenue sector including monthly salary and other allowances for the RCC officers and staffs, Taka 27.68 crore for development assistance grant and Taka 183.60 crore for implementing of the ADP projects and related other development programmes.
Salient features of the proposed budget included development of roads and infrastructures, safe drinking water supply, street lighting, garbage removal, health management and education development, city beautification, mosquito eradication, sanitation, uplift of kitchen market, sports and culture and environment and promotion of amusement.
Speaking on the occasion, Liton said the RCC has been putting the best efforts for ensuring quality civic services.
Mayor Liton said the present government has already approved four uplift projects involving around Taka 119.25 crore for infrastructural development of the metropolis.
The government approved the link road construction project from fire brigade crossing of Rajshahi city to Chapainawabganj- Natore highway at Uttar Naodapara involving Taka 47.83 crore.

  India’s Reliance telecom in talks for stake sale
AFP, Mumbai

India mobile giant Reliance Communications is in talks to sell up to 26 percent of the company, a source said Monday amid new speculation about a deal with US telecom group AT&T.
Reliance Communications, the country's second biggest mobile phone firm, is looking for opportunities to raise cash for debt and network updates and is speaking to a number of possible partners, the source said.
"These are early talks," the source said, asking not to be named, adding: "Clarity could emerge next week."
"Some names may fall away," the source said, without explaining further.
The company declined to comment on talks or a timeframe for a possible deal.
Last week media reports said Abu Dhabi's Etisalat and South Africa's MTN may be interested in a stake. MTN has since denied that it was involved in talks.
On Monday, the Wall Street Journal reported that US telecom giant AT&T is in informal talks with Reliance for a minority stake in the firm.
Reliance Communications shares have risen nearly 30 percent in the last two weeks, quoting at 174.35 rupees at the Mumbai stock exchange Monday.
The flagship firm led by billionaire Anil Ambani said on Sunday it was preparing for the entry of a strategic or private equity investor, who could pick up up to 26 percent in the company, a statement said on Sunday.
"This would be at premium to the prevailing market price."
Reliance said last month it paid the government 85.8 billion rupees (1.86 billion dollars) for the rollout of third-generation (3G) services in India.
The government's auction of 3G bandwidth for cellphone services ended last month, raising 15 billion dollars, through bids for 71 licenses in 22 service areas.
The company has a customer base of 109 million people.

  Help distressed humanity

Rotary Governor AKM Shamsul Huda on Saturday urged the well-off section of the society to come forward to help the distressed humanity.
He made the call at a function marking the 25th founding anniversary of Rotary Club of Dhaka Cosmopolitan at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in the city.
The well-off people should stand beside the people who have been affected by inferno at Nimtoli and building collapse at Begunbari, he said.
Former Rotary governors MA Wahab, Jalal U Ahmed, Dr M Mosharraf Hossain, Ivl Hafizullah, former president M.A. Ali Bhuiyan.Golam Mostafa , Rotarian Rakib Sarder, Engr. Md. Ibrahim, Firojul Haque, QMAB Siddiqy, GWM Mortuza, Saved Abu Zafar, Md. Neyamatullah spoke at the function with Club President SM Saiful Haque in the chair.
Rotarian Golam Mostafa was declared 'Best President1 at the function.
The Rotarians also expressed deep shock at loss of lives in the blaze and conveyed sympathy to members of the -bereaved family.They meeting decided to provide assistance for treatment of the injured.

National

1 killed, 50 including cops injured in Kishoreganj clash; 9 held

UNB, Kishoreganj

A man was killed in gunfire and 50 others, including 12 cops, were injured in a fierce clash between the people of two villages in Kotiadi upazila on Sunday.
The deceased was identified as Amin, 25, son of Hasan Uddin of Shahagram village.
Police said people of Shahagram and Durgapur villages equipped with firearms and lethal weapons locked into the bloody clash at noon over establishing supremacy at the local Gachihata Bazaar.
At one stage Amin was shot and killed by their opponents during the clash.
On information when police rushed to the spot the villagers threw brick bats on them that left 12 police men, including ASP Azbahar Ali Sheikh, injured. Police also arrested nine people from the spot.
Farid Ahmed, Officer-in-Charge of Kotiadi thana said they brought the situation under control firing 50 blank shots and two teargas shells.
Of the injured villagers, 25 were admitted to different hospitals and clinics. Police also sent the body of Amin to Sadar Modern Hospital morgue for autopsy.
Additional police have been deployed in the bazaar area to avert further trouble.

  Journalists play pivotal role in nation-building process: Liton

BSS, Rajshahi

Mayor of Rajshahi AHM Khairuzzaman Liton has said journalists have been playing a pivotal role in the nation-building process through their objective reporting.
He made this observation while launching the website of the Daily Sunshine in the City Bhaban seminar hall here Monday as the chief guest.
In this regards, he said the journey of the local daily on the website would be a milestone for Rajshahi, by which, the Rajshahi expatriates across the world could avail the news of Rajshahi as well as Bangladesh.
He, however, said objective reporting is very important to lead the state machinery on the right path. He also laid stress on the need of playing a responsible role by all quarters so that the nation could be taken forward.
Liton said both the print and electronic news media depict reliable information through regular reporting.
He stressed the need for a constructive criticism of wrongdoing side by side with appreciation for the good works, by which, the political leaders and public representatives could get the chance of self-rectification.
Referring to various uplift programs being implemented in the metropolis, he said the city corporation has been putting in its level best efforts to enhance service-delivery activities.
He said the city corporation has a plan to implement two housing projects on 235 acres and the Padma River Bank tourism project under the public-private partnership program.
Apart from this, he mention that the construction of the 16- storied City Tower, two eight-storied commercial buildings, gas pipeline installation, drainage, street lighting and new more water production pumps coupled with pipeline are being progressed in full swing. Silk Industrialist Sadar Ali, president of Rajshahi
Metropolitan Press Club Bulbul Chowdhury, convener of Rajshahi Rakkha Sangram Parishad Jamat Khan and editor of the newspaper Tasiqul Islam Bakul were, among others, present at the ceremony chaired by Managing Editor Younus Ali.

  Muggers take away wheat laden truck killing its driver in Bogra

UNB, Bogra

Muggers took away a wheat laden truck after killing its driver and injuring the helper at Jamadarpukur area on Bogra-Natore highway in Shahjahanpur upazila early this on Monday morning.
The deceased was identified as Mokhlesuddin, 45, of village Shekherhat in Kahalu upazila. Police said a gang of six snatchers in the guise of passengers boarded the Bogra bound truck from Chittagong when it stopped at Hatikomrul in Sirajganj district at about 2pm.
At one stage the bandits took control of the steering after tying up the driver and helper. Later, they strangulated the driver to death and threw them on the road and fled away with the truck.
Later, patrol police team recovered the body of the driver at about 4:15am and sent it to hospital morgue for autopsy.
They also sent the injured helper Anwar Hossain, 24, to Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College Hospital in critical condition.

  104 gamblers arrested from Khulna Press Club, 97 sent to jail

UNB, Khulna

RAB in a pre-dawn raid arrested 104 gamblers from Khulna Metropolitan Press Club and seized Tk 2.42 lakh from them.
After interrogation, seven of them were set free and 97 others handed over to the police. Prosecuted to the court in the afternoon, they were all sent to jail rejecting their bail petitions.
Those sent to jail include city Jubo League leaders Akiluddin and Amir Hossain, club house owner advocate Mehedi Insan, Motor Sramik Union leaders Giasuddin and Ilias, manager of gambling board Sajal and Barek, police said.
The club in a rented house on Golam Muktadir Road in Sonadanga
Nabo Palli was floated about 4 months ago by a group of least known journalists.
Locals said gambling and anti-social activities were going on every night in the club since it was opened close to a mosque.
They had repeatedly urged the police administration to stop the anti-social activities, at least for maintaining sanctity of the adjacent mosque.
But no action was taken, allegedly for active
participation in the anti-social activities by a section of the police personnel.
Finally, the matter was informed to the RAB who burst into the club in the wee hours today.

  Historic June 7 observed at Narayanganj
BSS, Narayanganj

Speakers at a discussion here Monday paid glowing tribute to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who spearheaded the movement for establishing the rights of people of the then East Pakistan now Bangladesh through the launching of the six-point charter of demand in 1966.
Narayanganj City Unit of Awami League, Juba League, Krishak League, Chhatra League and Sechchasebok League jointly organized the discussion at the AL office at Level Crossing No-2 on BB Road in observance of the historic June 7.
With city AL President Anwar Hossain in the chair, the meeting was addressed, among others, by vice-president of Jatiya Sramik League Sukur Mahmud, general secretary of Narayanganj District Chhatra League GM Arafat, president of District Krishak League Rokonuddin Mahmud and joint secretary of Narayanganj District Awami League Mofizul Islam.
Earlier, the participants garlanded the portrait of Bangabandhu and a doa mahfil was held for peace of the departed souls of those killed in police firing in Narayanganj and Dhaka on this day in 1966.

  Three killed in separate incidents in Bhola
UNB, Bhola

Two fishermen were killed and two others injured as thunderbolts struck them and a minor girl was electrocuted in separate incidents here on Sunday.
Police said fisherman Mahidul, 19, was killed and two others were injured as a thunderbolt struck them while catching fish in Tetulia river at Gangapur area under Borhanuddin upazila at noon. The two injured fishermen Maidul, 18, and Ilias, 25, were admitted to the upazila health complex. They hailed from Mehendiganj upazila of Barisal district.
Locals said another fisherman Ripon, 21, of Baliakandi village in Tajumuddin upazila died in lightning strike.
They said the incident occurred when Ripon was returning home after catching fish from Meghna river.
In yet another incident, a minor girl named Trisha, 3, of Dhania Giringi bazaar area in Sadar upazila died instantly when she came in contract with a live electric wire.

  Robber killed in mass beating in Magura
UNB, Magura
A bobber was killed and another injured seriously in mass beating at Nohata village in Mohammadpur upazila here Saturday night.
The deceased was identified as Korban Ali, 26, son of Golam Sarwar, of Bilupara village in the upazila. The injured is Aminur, 24, son of Lal Miah, of Charpachuria village in Alfadanga upazila of Faridpur district.
Police said a gang of muggers numbering 6/7, intercepted a three-wheeler Nasimon when it reached Nohata from Narail carrying a businessman at midnight.
Later, the bandits tied up the driver and tried to hijack the Nasimon.
Hearing the hue and cry of the driver local people after a hot chase caught two of the robbers Korban and Aminur and gave them good thrashing, leaving them critically injured.
Later, they were rushed to the Mohammadpur upazila health complex where Korban died after a few hours.
A case was filed.

Sports

Tangail emerges champion in Danone Cup football
TBT Report

Tangail clinched the title of Grameen Danone Nations Cup thrashing Jhalokathi 3-0 in the final at Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka on Monday.
Shubho Khan scored a brace while Mishu Sheikh netted one for the winners.
Anik Ghosh of Tangail became the 'Best Player of the Tournament', while best scorer's award went to Robiul Hasan, also from Tangail, who scored five goals. Thakurgaon won the Fair Play trophy.
Eight teams took part in the two-day meet, organised by Bangladesh Football Federation. The teams are: Tangail, Jessore, Thakur-gaon, Bogra, Kustia, Comilla, Jhalokathi and Rajbari district football teams.
The boys aged 10-12 years old were eligible to feature in the competition.
Champion Tangail along with last year's winner Khulna will take part in the Danone Cup international football competition in South Africa in October next.

  Rais continues to win in national badminton
TBT Report

Rais of Bangladesh Biman scored an effortless 21-7, 21-10 victory over Nahiduz-zaman of Rajshahi division in the men's singles competition of the Citycell 30th National Badminton Cham-pionship at Dhaka Wooden Floor Gymnasium in the city on Monday.
In the other matches of the day, Pesta (Bogra) defeated Mamun (Dhaka) 19-21, 21-8, 21-11; Enam (Bangladesh Biman) beat Ritu (Bangladesh Railway) 21-15, 21-19; Hannan (Narayanganj) beat Jashed Chittagong) 21-9, 21-17; Zahid Mia (Sylhet) beat Kabir (Dhaka) 21-15, 21-14 and Osmani (Bogra) beat Liton (Dhaka) 21-8, 21-0.
In women's singles, Elina of Narayanganj reached the semifinal defeating Pabna girl Brishti 21-1 and 21-4 in the one-sided quarterfinal match at the same venue.

   Tendulkar, Yuvraj out of Asia Cup squad
AFP, New Delhi

India's cricket chiefs on Monday allowed veteran Sachin Tendulkar to skip the upcoming Asia Cup in Sri Lanka, while Yuvraj Singh was dropped from the 15-man squad.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni will captain India in the four-nation limited-overs tournament against Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, in Dambulla from June 15 to 24.
Tendulkar, 37, has not played for India since February 24, when he hit an unprecedented double-century in a one-day international against South Africa in Gwalior.
The world's most prolific Test and one-day batsman turned out for Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League in March-April, before being rested for a tri-series in Zimbabwe also featuring Sri Lanka. "Tendulkar requested the board not to consider him for the Asia Cup as he wanted to spend time with his children in view of the hectic cricket season ahead," BCCI secretary N. Srinivasan said in a statement.
Left-hander Yuvraj was axed after scoring just 74 runs in five matches in the World Twenty20 in the Caribbean in April-May, where India failed to make the semi-finals.
In five one-day internationals this year, Yuvraj has managed only 96 runs, 74 of them coming in one match against Sri Lanka in Dhaka. Six players who were rested for the Zimbabwe tri-series-Dhoni, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra-are back for the Asia Cup.
The second-string Indian team did not qualify for the final in Zimbabwe after losing twice to the hosts and once to Sri Lanka.
Attacking left-hand batsman Saurabh Tiwary, 20, who plays for Mumbai Indians in the IPL, is the only new face in the squad.

  Fans in firing line
AFP, Dublin

When Tiger Woods struggled on Sunday, his fans felt his pain - three of them literally.
Woods hit three spectators en route his closing 72 at the Memorial, his fourth tournament of the year and his last tuneup before the US Open at Pebble Beach later this month.
"I kept hitting everybody out there today," said Woods, who has a habit of giving an autographed golf glove to any spectator he hits. "Thank God I get them for free." Woods pulled his drive at the first and hit Jeramy May in the neck. At the second he hit a fan standing left of the fairway in the back of the leg and at 15 he hit another spectator on the hand. Despite some wayward shots, Woods said he wasn't too disappointed with his first competitive outing in three weeks - since a neck injury forced him out of the final round of the Players Championship.
He was also playing without the guidance of swing coach Hank Haney, after the two parted ways in the wake of the Players.
The week before that tournament Woods had missed the cut at Quail Hollow in Charlotte.
Asked what he learned about his game at Memorial - a tournament he has won four times, Woods laughed.
"Well, I'm capable of playing four rounds in a row," he said. "I need to be able to shape the ball both ways comfortably," he said more seriously. "I was able to do that most of the week here this week, which was good. I hit some shots that I hadn't hit in a long time."
Woods opened and closed his week with even-par 72s at Muirfield Village, with two 69s in between.
"I felt like this week I hit some really good shots, shots that I have been lacking," Woods said. "It's just one of those things where I still need some work at home."
Woods nabbed three birdies in the front nine on Sunday, but also two bogeys to go with a bogey at the par-three 16th.
"Still not quite right," he said of his tee shots. "Not enough air. I felt a little bit defensive.

  Nadal regains French Open crown
AFP, Paris

Rafael Nadal recaptured the French Open crown on Sunday, gaining revenge over Robin Soderling with a 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 win and, in so doing, he also retook the world number one spot from Roger Federer.
Nadal was simply too powerful on clay for the Swede who 12 months ago ended the Spaniard's 31-match, four titles win streak in Paris in stunning fashion with a four sets, fourth round triumph.
The win, Nadal's fifth here since 2005, put him second on the all-time list of French Open winners, one behind Bjorn Borg whose last title here came in 1981. He is now 38-1 in matches played at Roland Garros.
It was also the second time he had won the French Open title without dropping a set, having first achieved that feat in 2008. For Soderling it was another cruel finish to the tournament having defeated top seed and title-holder Roger Federer in the quarter-finals. Last year he beat top seed and title-holder Nadal, but lost to Federer in the final.
"It was a very difficult match. Last year it was a difficult final but this time I could play longer, move him out wide and my movement was much better," Nadal said
"It was a difficult year in 2009 because of my knee problems and my parents divorced. This year is very different."
"I was a little bit down, but now I want to enjoy this. It's a very emotional day."
Soderling said: "Today wasn't my best match, but he played so well."
"Rafa always plays kind of the same. He has one game, but he does it so well. "In the beginning I was unlucky and had a few break chances and didn't take them, but I don't think it would have changed anything. "He definitely has the chance to stay number one for a long time if he continues to play like this."
With a morning storm having chased away the sweltering temperatures that marked Saturday's women's final, cool, overcast conditions greeted the two men as they stepped out onto the Philippe Chatrier centre court. Fifth seed Soderling opened confidently with three big serves at around 220 kilometres an hour and it was the Swede who procured the first break point of the match in the third game.
He failed to convert that though, hitting a backhand long and was made to pay the price in the following game.
Soderling was in control of the rally with a second break point against him, but he mistakenly left alone a Nadal crosscourt backhand, thinking it was going out. Instead it dipped at the last second and landed just inside the baseline.

  Germany lands in South Africa
AFP, Johannesburg

Germany was the latest World Cup giant to touch down in South Africa for the first World Cup staged on the continent.
The three-time champion landed at Johannesburg international airport on a crisp, clear Monday morning after the first official flight of the national airline in an Airbus A380 jumbo.
"It was a great experience to be on the first A380 flight," coach Joachim Loew told reporters as he and his 23-man squad completed immigration details before heading for a hotel near Pretoria.
"We want to show South Africans from the outset that we are happy to be in their country," added manager and former national team striker Oliver Bierhoff.
Germany finished third behind Italy and France when they hosted the tournament four years ago and were runners-up to Brazil in the 2002 finals in South Korea and Japan.
They are traditionally considered title contenders regardless of the state of the national team because of their famed refusal to give up no matter how desperate the situation in a World Cup match.
Hopes of Germany going all the way in the June 11-July 11 tournament did suffer a massive blow last month when midfield conductor and captain Michael Ballack was ruled out after tearing ligaments in the English FA Cup final.
The injury followed a heavy tackle from Germany-born Kevin-Prince Boateng, a member of the Ghana squad that also landed in Johannesburg on Monday and which will contest Group D with Germany, Australia and Serbia.
Defender Philipp Lahm has been elevated to Germany captain with Bayern Munich team-mate Bastian Schweinsteiger the new vice-captain of a country that conquered the football world in 1954, 1974 and 1990. Germany had glamorous company on their flight from Frankfurt in the shape of Shakira, the Colombian megastar who will feature in a pre-tournament concert on Thursday at Orlando Stadium in Soweto township. Other teams with first-class World Cup pedigree who have already arrived in South Africa are Argentina, England, Netherlands, France and Brazil, with Italy and European champions Spain due later this week.
Ghana have been equally hard hit by injury with midfield dynamo Michael Essien, Ballack's Chelsea team-mate, failing to recover from a knee injury sustained last January while training at the African Nations Cup in Angola.
The Black Stars, runners-up to Egypt in the African tournament despite fielding an injury-ravaged side, are captained by veteran Stephen Appiah and can call on another Italy-based midfielder in Sulley Muntari from Inter Milan.
Another African contender to touch down were Algeria, shock qualifiers after a 24-year absence at the exp-ense of Egypt, who arrived at recently built Durban international airport.
Slovenia, who upset the odds by snatching a ticket to South Africa at the expense of Guus Hiddink-coached Russia, were the fourth country to arrive in South Africa on Monday.
The World Cup kicks off Friday when South Africa face Mexico at 90,000-seat Soccer City stadium on the Johannesburg outskirts, followed a few hours later by another Group A clash between France and Uruguay in Cape Town.

  Petersen leads Proteas’ batting
AFP, St. Augustine

Alviro Petersen gathered 65 opening the batting, and was one of four batsmen that hit half-centuries to lead South Africa to 347 for four in their first innings in a two-day practice match against Trinidad and Tobago on Sunday here.
Petersen struck nine fours and one six from 87 balls in 139 minutes, and added 72 for the first wicket with South Africa captain Graeme Smith, who made 41. A.B. de Villiers supported with 53, and J.P. Duminy made 51 before they retired out, along with Hashim Amla, who made 44. Mark Boucher also tuned-up with an undefeated on 51.
South Africa are preparing for their three-Test series with West Indies, which opens on Thursday at Queen's Park Oval in the Trinidad and Tobago capital of Port of Spain.
The second Test will be played from June 18 to 22 in St. Kitts, and Barbados host the third and final Test from June 26 to 30.
Scores:
South Africa 347 for four (Alviro Petersen 65, A.B. de Villiers 53, J.P. Duminy 51, Mark Boucher 51 not out, Hashim Amla 44, Graeme Smith 41) vs Trinidad and Tobago

  Australian media rally round beaten Stosur
AFP, Sydney

Australian media rallied around Samantha Stosur Monday after her heart-breaking French Open defeat but were unsure whether her giant-killing feats would boost the country's tennis fortunes.
Stosur, playing the best tennis of her career, swept aside Justine Henin, Serena Williams and Jelena Jankovic before surprisingly losing Saturday's final to Italian Francesca Schiavone.
"In merely reaching the final, Stosur gave Australian tennis some much needed exposure outside the annual false dawn of the Australian Open," Richard Hinds wrote in The Sydney Morning Herald.
Had she won, Stosur would have been the first Australian to win a Grand Slam since Lleyton Hewitt's 2002 Wimbledon victory.
Stosur was the hot favourite to take the final, but the 6-4, 7-6 (7-2) scoreline went Schiavone's way, extending Australian women's 30-year Grand Slam drought.
Stosur has said she hopes her performances have inspired Australians but Hinds said it was a knee-jerk reaction to suggest "Stosurmania" would power a new generation of female players.
"The more sober obse-rvers will remember that the multiple Grand Slam success of Pat Rafter and Lleyton Hewitt did not create a tennis boom but a period in the doldrums," he wrote.
Stosur, who was ranked world No. 7 ahead of the French Open, remains Australia's greatest hope for a major and commentator Patrick Smith said she was also a role model of whom the country could be proud.
"Stosur comes with no trinkets or tantrums. She plays decent tennis decently. And tennis has a player that is both talented and accessible," Smith wrote in The Australian.

  England’s Ashes won't go swingingly: Siddons
AFP, Manchester

Bangladesh coach Jamie Siddons warned England's bowlers "it doesn't swing, it doesn't seam in Australia" ahead of their Ashes defence 'Down Under' later this year.
England, in overcast conditions and with the ball swinging spitefully, skittled out Bangladesh, following on, for just 123 inside 35 overs as they won the second Test by an innings and 80 runs inside three days at Old Trafford here on Sunday.
That gave England a 2-0 series win after they beat Bangladesh by eight wickets in the first Test at Lord's.
But no-one, least of all England, are kidding themselves that a series win over Bangladesh represents any kind of guide to their Ashes chances.
England may hold the Ashes after a 2-1 win at home last year but it is 23 years since they last won a Test series in Australia.
Even against Bangladesh, there were times when England struggled to take wickets with the old ball on a flat pitch when the sun was out.
Siddons, a prolific run-scorer in the Sheffield Shield but uncapped by his native Australia at Test level, said England's attack would need to find a way of coping with local conditions.
"They are obviously good enough to win, they have just beaten Australia," Siddons told reporters at Old Trafford.
"But I made a throwaway comment that it 'doesn't swing, it doesn't seam in Australia' and it certainly won't swing like that."
Steven Finn, already being touted as an Ashes prospect, marked only his second Test in England with a return of five wickets for 42 runs here on Sunday and Siddons said the lanky paceman - Finn is 6ft 8in tall - had what it took to succeed in Australia.
"Maybe the new ball will swing for four or five overs, so you need to be like Finn and put it in good areas and maybe get it up a bit fuller because short stuff isn't going to worry Australia.
"They (England) are good enough definitely, they have the batsmen to make enough runs and a good off-spinner (Graeme Swann) for days four and five."
Former England captain Michael Vaughan wants current skipper Andrew Strauss to deploy a five-man attack in Australia, even though the side's present preference is for six batsmen and four bowlers.
But Siddons said: "I'm not sure about the composition of their team, you have to make enough runs to give your bowlers a chance. It's a balancing act, like in Test cricket here (in England).
"Each wicket in Australia is different; Adelaide will spin a lot more and take it earlier, Brisbane probably won't take any (spin) at all until the last day or two."
England now face oldest foes Australia in a five-match one-day series at home starting in Southampton on June 22, having beaten them in last month's World Twenty20 final in Barbados.
"It will be a hard series for both teams to play," Strauss said of England's upcoming clash with the world champions.
"The subtext to it is both the Ashes coming up and the World Cup (in Asia next year) and these will be five important games for both sides in their preparations towards that.
"We see it as a chance to test ourselves against the top one-day side in the world and less than 12 months before the World Cup that is a good thing to do," the opening batsman added.
England, who have a packed home season, face Pakistan in a four-Test series in July and August.
It looks as if Pakistan will be near full strength after several players, including former captain Younus Khan who was given an indefinite ban, won appeals against a variety of disciplinary punishments handed down by the Pakistan Cricket Board.
"We want to play the best quality Pakistan side possible," Strauss insisted. "It is going to be a good test for us prior to the Ashes series."

  Nigeria outplays North Korea in World Cup sparring session
AFP, Tembisa

Nigeria delivered a World Cup boost to thousands of supporters here on Sunday with a 3-1 triumph over fellow qualifiers North Korea in a warm-up marred by injuries to 16 people.
The stampede victims included two police officers, who tried to prevent ticketless fans forcing their way into a ground being used as a training base by the 2000-1 outsiders from the far East.
A 'Super Eagles' squad that battled just to qualify for South Africa face a difficult Group B debut on June 12 against Argentina and drab draws last month with Saudi Arabia and Colombia deflated morale.
But they always had the measure of the busy but largely toothless Koreans at Makhulong Stadium in this sprawling township north-east of Johannesburg after Everton striker Yakubu Aigeybeni scored on 16 minutes.
Obinna Nsofor converted a penalty midway through the second half, Tae-Se Jong reduced arrears almost immediately and substitute Obafemi Martins confirmed the dominance of the 'Eagles' with a late goal.
This was the final warm-up for both teams with Korea also starting against South American opposition in the shape of record five-time winners Brazil on June 15 in Johannesburg.
The Asians had fullback Jong-Hyok Cha sent off when trailing 2-1 after he disputed a decision by the Niger referee to flash a yellow card for not retreating sufficiently at a free kick.
Coaches Lars Lagerback and Jong-Hun Kim experimented with Martins sitting on the bench until late in the game while Russia-based striker Yong-Jo Hong appeared only for the second 45 minutes.
Slick passing set Yakubu clear after early Nigeria pressure and he gave goalkeeper Myong-Guk Ri no chance with a fierce close-range shot that flew into the far corner.
Jong, one of two Japan-based stars in the Korean line-up, impressed up front only to be starved of support in a 5-3-2 system adopted by a country back at the World Cup after a 44-year absence.
Ri guessed correctly by diving to his right for the Nsofor spot kick, but the low penalty had power and accuracy that gave a star of the 16-match Korean qualifying campaign no chance.
Jong got his reward for tireless running and deft touches by intercepting a careless cross-field pass from Elderson Echiejile and giving goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama no chance.
Nigeria put the result beyond doubt five minutes into added time when a cross eluded Ri and unmarked former Newcastle United striker Martins nodded over the line.

  England stumbles towards World Cup opener
AFP, Moruleng

England's stuttering build-up to its World Cup opener against the United States continued as Fabio Capello's men laboured to a 3-0 win over South African club Platinum Stars on Monday.
Having lost captain Rio Ferdinand to a training ground injury last week, Capello will have been relieved to have got through this final practice match without any further setbacks on that front, five days before his squad face the Americans in Rustenburg. But the Italian was given cause for concern by the defensive lapses that were scattered throughout a display that was just as disjointed as the unconvincing friendly wins over Mexico and Japan that preceded his squad's departure for South Africa.
Not until Joe Cole sidefooted home midway through the second half was the game put beyond the reach of the South African Premier League side, who missed a fourth-minute penalty two minutes after Jermain Defoe had given England the lead.
Wayne Rooney swept in a James Milner pass minutes from the end to give the scoreline a more flattering allure on an afternoon when Capello's stars might have suffered greater damage to their morale.
The only player to feature for the full 90 minutes, Joe Cole was one of England's livelier performers and he looks likely to start on the left of midfield on Saturday in the absence of Gareth Barry, who will not have recovered sufficiently in time from his ankle injury.
England's opener came after Glen Johnson released Steven Gerrard into space on the right of the box. Gerrard, who has taken over the captaincy from Ferdinand, delivered a textbook cutback and Defoe finished cleanly from the edge of the six-yard box. That positive start was almost immediately undermined, however, when Glen Johnson needlessly conceded a penalty with a shove on Mzikayise Mashaba two minutes later.
Joe Hart, granted the first 45 minutes to press his case for promotion above Robert Green, may have relished the opportunity to demonstrate his prowess at keeping out spot-kicks but the goalkeeper was not required to make a save as Bradley Grobler's effort sailed high over his bar.
Capello's decision to pair Rooney with Emile Heskey for the second half suggests the big Aston Villa striker is winning his personal battle with Peter Crouch for a starting role alongside the Manchester United man.
Crouch, who featured alongside Jermain Defoe for the opening period, did not help his cause with a couple of flagrant misses. Having failed to connect with Ashley Cole's low cross in front of goal, the Tottenham striker then headed an equally inviting delivery from Defoe two metres off target. Heskey's finishing was no better when he was presented with a free header by Aaron Lennon after the interval and England were fortunate not to concede an equaliser when Lehlohonolo Masalesa got clear of the back four shortly afterwards only to screw his shot wide of Green's right-hand post.

  Rose rallies to seize first US win at Memorial
AFP, Dublin

England's Justin Rose won the Memorial on Sunday, rallying from four shots adrift with a sparkling 66 to capture his first US PGA Tour victory.
Rose completed his six-under effort at Muirfield Village without a bogey for an 18-under total of 270 and a three-shot victory over Rickie Fowler.
"I've had a few close calls over time, and you start to sometimes wonder why you can't get it done," Rose said said of his inability to claim a title in the United States, to go with half a dozen victories worldwide.
He missed just one fairway in a round that also saw him one-putt eight straight holes.
After he tapped in for par at the last he raised his fist in the air. Then he had a hug for his young son Leo, who clapped has his father lifted him up. Rose was making his 162nd start in a PGA Tour event, dating to a breakout performance as a 17-year-old amateur at the 1998 British Open, where he tied for fourth.
His last-round charge marked the second year in a row that the Memorial winner came from four shots off the lead. Tiger Woods did the same last year.
Fowler, the 21-year-old rookie who held a three-shot overnight lead over Ricky Barnes and Tim Petrovic, fell off the top of the leaderboard with a double bogey at the 12th, where he hit into the water. He carded a one-over 73 to claim second on 273 - three shots in front of Bo Van Pelt and Barnes.
It was Fowler's second runner-up finish of the season.
"Your time is coming," Rose told Fowler as the young American came over to congratulate him.
Rose reeled off three birdie in a row from the seventh and draine a 20-foot par-saving putt at 10.
He added birdies at 14 and 16 as Fowler struggled on the back nine.
Fowler drove into the bunker en route to a bogey at 10. He couldn't gain any ground at the par-five 11th, and at the par-three 12th his tee shot found the water and he ended up dropping two shots.
Barnes had two double bogeys but also holed out from the fairway for an eagle as he shot a 73. Van Pelt missed a short par putt at 18 to close his 69.
Rose was facing a birdie putt at 16 when he heard the cheer when Barnes holed out for eagle on the 15th
He heard fans chant "Ricky" but he didn't know if it was Barnes or Fowler.
"I knew I had a 50-50 chance," said Rose, who went ahead and made his putt.
Woods, playing just his fourth tournament of the year and his first since a neck injury forced him out of the final round of the Players Championship three weeks ago, carded a fourth-round even-par 72.
His tie for 19th on six-under 282 was his lowest finish since 2002 in the tournament he has won four times.
Masters champion Phil Mickelson, who again could have overtaken Woods atop the world rankings with a victory this week, closed with a 69 to share fifth place on 277 with Ryan Moore (68) and Petrovic (74).
It was the third tournament in a month that Mickelson had a chance to seize the number one ranking for the first time in his career.

  Sania Mirza makes winning return after wedding
AFP, Birmingham

India's Sania Mirza made a winning return to action after her wedding to Pakistan cricketer Shoaib Malik as she defeated Chan Yung-Jan 6-1, 6-4 in the first round here on Monday.
Mirza had taken several months off from tennis to focus on her personal life before controversially marrying Malik in April.
The tense nature of relations between India and Pakistan meant political groups in her homeland protested against the 23-year-old's decision to marry Malik.
Mirza's picture was burnt on the streets of Bhopal, where activists from the right-wing Hindu nationalist Vishwa Hindu Parishad party vowed to stop her competing in the Commonwealth Games in Delhi in October.
But, with the storm of controversy dying down, Mirza has been able to return to tennis and she quickly rediscovered her rhythm on the Birmingham grass-courts as she swatted aside Chan, a 20-year-old from Taipei.
Meanwhile, Thailand's Tamarine Tanasugarn, a Wimbledon quarter-finalist in 2008, cruised through as the 14th seed won 6-2, 6-2 against Lilia Osterloh of the US.
Britain's Laura Robson, who last week had to offer an abject apology for an interview she had given where she labelled some of her fellow players as 'sluts', advanced to the second round when her Swiss opponent Stefanie Voegele retired in the second game of the second set.
Robson, a junior Wimbledon champion in 2008, had taken the first set 6-4.