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Leading News
ECNEC approves 10 projects worth
Tk 8227 crore
UNB, Dhaka
The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC)
on Tuesday approved 10 development projects involving Tk
8227 crore that include two projects for new food godowns
having additional storage capacity of 2.19 lakh metric
tons.
The ECNEC meeting with its chairperson and Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina also approved four power projects including
a mega project of 360 MW Combined Cycle Power Plant
involving Tk 4215 crore. Of the total project cost, Tk
3075 crore will come from the government exchequer while
Tk 5152 crore as project assistance, said Planning
Minister AK Khandaker while briefing reporters after the
meeting.
Food and Disaster Management Minister Dr M Abdur Razzaque,
who was also present in the meeting, said that the
government is looking forward to build more food godowns
having additional capacity of 7-8 lakh MT in next three
years.
"Now we've godowns with storage capacity of 14 lakh MT.
This is not sufficient for the country's 15 crore people,
especially in case of any natural disaster and crisis," he
said adding that the present government is making all-out
efforts to improve the state of the food godowns.
Planning Secretary Habibullah Majumder was also present at
the briefing.
The Food Minister said they are eying for having godowns
with capacity of 30 lakh MT in the next five years in a
bid to ensure food security.
Dr. Razzaque further informed that the construction work
of godowns in North Bengal having 1.10 lakh MT capacity
and in Mongla with 50,000 MT capacity are expected to be
completed within a year.
The other approved projects include Bheramara Combined
Cycle Power Plant (360 MW) Development Project under the
Power Division (Tk 4215 crore), Shunt Compensation at Grid
Substation (132 KV) by capacitor Bank Phase-1 (revised)
project under the Power Division involving (Tk 54 crore),
Ishwardi-Bag-habari-Sirajganj-Bogra 230 KV Distribution
Line (revised) project under the Power Division (Tk 483
crore) and Rural Electrific-ation Up-gradation project (Rajshahi,
Rangpur, Khulna and Barisal Divisions) under the Power
Division (Tk 1322 crore).
The other projects are Integrated Protected Area
Co-management (IPAC) Nishorgo project under the
Environment and Forest Ministry (Tk 61 crore),
Construction of 11 Regional Passport Offices in different
districts and divisional cities under the Home Ministry (Tk
54 crore), Joydevpur-Mym-ensingh Road Improvement Project
under the Communications Ministry (Tk 902 crore) and
Skills & Training Enhancement Project under the Education
Ministry (Tk 634 crore).
18
people die in trawler capsize in Sunamganj
UNB, Sunamganj
At least 18 people drowned and 19 others went missing as a
trawler capsized in a haor in Dharmapasha upazila of the
district on Tuesday.
Local sources said the Badshaganj-bound trawler from
Balijuri, with around 100 passengers, on board, capsized
in Shoilchapra haor at about 10 am due to strong current.
Of the passengers, 18 drowned, 19 went missing while rest
swam ashore.
The missing passengers could not be found till writing of
this report at 4:30pm.
Officer-in-charge of Dharmapasha thana said bodies of 18
people, including four children and six female students of
Badshaganj Public High School, were recovered from under
the capsized trawler. Thirteen bodies were identified as
Shapna Begum, 12, Jharna Begum, 14, Hashi Begum, 14,
Malamoni, 18, Nabija Begum, 35, Nupur, aged one year,
Poshaker Maa, 36, Rahul Mia, aged five month, Laklima,
aged one year, Babu, 5, Tajul Islam, aged one year, Rokeya
Akhter, 35, and Moni, 14.
Identity of other deceased could not be known. All the
deceased hailed from different villages in same upazila.
The bodies were sent to Dharmapasha upazila health
complex.
Balijuri UP chairman Liakat Ali said there were 37 school
students in the trawler.
The rescue operation was continuing till writing of this
report at 4:30pm.
411
more ‘politically motivated’ cases withdrawn
Total 5539 cases selected for withdrawal: Two against
BNP,
four JP, one lawyers, one Proshika, all others against AL
TBT Report
The government on Tuesday recommended the withdrawals of
411 more cases on the grounds that they were 'politically
motivated' cases filed under previous regimes. The
decision was taken after careful scrutiny during the 19th
inter-ministerial meeting on the withdrawal of political
harassment cases, held at the Home Ministry with State
Minister for Law Advocate Qamrul Islam in the chair.
State Minister for Home Affairs Shamsul Huq Tuku and other
concerned senior officers attended the meeting. Briefing
reporters after the meeting, Qamrul Islam said that a
total of 761 cases were placed before the meeting today
for consideration.
After reviewing the cases, the meeting decided to withdraw
411 cases, of which 406 are Criminal Pros-ecution Court
cases and five are under the Anti-Corr-uption Commission
(ACC), he added. The State Minister for Law said with
today's withdrawal, so far 5539 cases have been withdrawn
out of 8666. Out of those withdrawn, 5128 were CrPC cases
and 411 ACC cases. Replying to a question, Advocate Qamrul
Islam said 3000 more cases are now pending consideration.
It may be pointed out that most of those whose cases were
recommended for withdrawal belong to the ruling party and
its front organizations, triggering resentment in the
opposition BNP circles as its leaders are also bearing
loads of such cases on charges of graft that had taken
place during their rule. The scrutiny committee on October
13 in its eighth meeting recommended dropping one case
against opposition leader Khaleda Zia's son Tarique Rahman
and one corruption case against former president and
Jatiya Party chief HM Ershad MP. Earlier on August 26, one
case against BNP leader Moudud Ahmed was also withdrawn.
Among the 669 cases recommended for quashing on 9 March in
the 14th meeting the committee recommended withdrawal of a
case filed against a group of eminent lawyers of the
country including Dr Kamal Hossain, Barrister Rokon Uddin
Mahmud, Barrister Tania Amir and Advocate Subrata Chow-dhury.
Among the cases withdrawn on 19 May, one was against Awami
League MP Mostaq Ahmed Ruhi and two cases against ex-Jatiya
Party MP SM Abu Syeed.
Mahmudur Rahman sent
on remand for eight days more
BSS, Dhaka
The Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) Court Tuesday
granted another eight days' police remand to the acting
editor of the recently closed daily Amar Desh, Mahmudur
Rahman, in connection with two other cases, including
sedition.
The same court earlier granted his four-day police remand
in connection with two other cases filed with Tejgaon
Shilpanchal Thana and Kotwali Thana.
Biman Bandar Thana police yesterday filed a sedition case
against Mahmudur Rahman and 15 others for their alleged
involvement in hatching conspiracies against the state
while the other case was filed with Uttara Police Station
last month for his alleged involvement in patronizing and
financing militant organization Hijbut Tahrir.
Police and Court sources said, Mahmudur Rahman was
produced before the court of Metropolitan Magistrate Md
Ismail Hossain today with two separate remand prayers for
20 days in connection with those two cases.
The prosecution side, led by Metropolitan Public
Prosecutor (PP) Advocate Abdullah Abu and Dhaka District
Public Prosecutor Advocate Khandakar Abdul Mannan, moved
for granting remand to Mahmudur Rahman but a group of BNP-backed
lawyers, led by Dhaka Bar Association President Advocate
Sanaullah Miah, opposed the remand prayer and demanded
bail for the accused.
The government prosecutors told the court regarding the
sedition case that he needs to be taken to police remand
to find out the whole story of the 'Uttara Conspiracy'
which was hatched at the commercial office of Mahmudur
Rahman at Uttara.
Regarding the case filed with Uttara Thana under Anti-
Terrorism Act, they told the court that he needs to be
taken to police remand to find out the names and details
of other patrons and financiers of the militant terrorist
group. The court finally granted four days' remand in each
of the cases rejecting the bail prayers.
Police said, Hijbut Tahrir chief Prof Syed Mohiuddin and
his second in command Morshedul Islam confessed to police
while on remand that Mahmudur Rahman was their main patron
and financier.
Storage of Flammable Chemicals
Mobile court gets down to business in Old Town
UNB, Dhaka
A Mobile Court on Tuesday continued its raid of
unauthorized godowns for flammable chemicals and factories
in the old part of the city, following the Nimtoli fire
tragedy that claimed lives of 119 people and seriously
injured 50 others.
The court led by Executive Magistrate Md Al Amin raided
seven godowns and one factory on Joinab Nath Road and its
nearby areas from 11:30 am and it continued till
afternoon. The team first conducted their drive at Urasia
trading Co at 17 Joynath Road and searched seven godowns
for flammable chemicals.
The court found that the Urasia trading company was
unauthorized as it had no fire license, nor any fire
safety equipment. After scrutinizing the situation, the
magistrate fined Tk 3 lakh to its manager Imam-uddin and
realized the fine in cash, which was for lack of fire
safety equipments. The court also asked the Fire Service
to file a case against the owner of the factory, Hazi
Bulbul, as it is established in a residential area without
fire license.
Seven godowns of the company containing flammable
chemicals worth about Tk 3 crore were also sealed off. The
mobile court later conducted a raid of a galvanizing wire
factory "Globe Wire Company Ltd" and found inadequate fire
safety equipments. The court also sealed off the factory.
BNP to
hold mass sit-in today
UNB, Dhaka
Opposition BNP will hold a four-hour long mass sit-in in
the capital today expecting huge participation from all
walks of life including like-minded political parties, and
different professional groups and organizations.
BNP chairperson and leader of the opposition Khaleda Zia
will lead the mass sit-in at the premises of the
Institution of Engineers Bangladesh, from 10 am to 2 pm.
The mass sit-in will be the first component of a 3-day
anti-government movement programme including June 27
countrywide dawn to dusk hartal called by Khaleda Zia on
May 19 at BNP's Paltan Maidan grand rally. The mass sit-in
was called for protesting the government's 'interference'
with judiciary and appointment of 'inept and
controversial' judges and demanding to protect the dignity
and freedom of the judiciary and ensuring justice to all.
A number of like minded political parties and partners of
BNP led four-party alliance including Jamaat-e-Islami,
Islami Oikya Jote (IOJ), Khelafat Majlish, BJP, JAGPA, NPP,
Muslim League, Bangladesh Islamic Party and Labour Party
pro-BNP professionals groups like teachers of
universities, colleges, high school, primary schools,
madrasahs, engineers, journalists, physicians and cultural
personalities extended their active support to the mass
sit-in during meetings with Khaleda Zia over the last two
weeks.
BNP standing committee member Nazrul Islam Khan told UNB
Tuesday that huge participation will take place in the
mass sit-in as people from all walks of life will join the
programme supporting the reasons the mass sit-in has been
called for.
He said different political parties, professional groups
and social and cultural organizations will formally
express solidarity with the mass sit-in tomorrow.
Publicity for the mass sit-in was going on in the capital
city to mobilize people for the programme.
Meanwhile, a group of Jatiyatabadi Shecchasebok Dal came
under attack by a group of 'ruling party terrorists' near
the city's Mogh-bazar crossing at about 3:45 pm today
while they were carrying out a publicity mass sit-in
programme aboard a truck, according to Shecch-asebok Dal
president Habib-un-Nabi Khan Sohel.
20
injured in BCL-police clash in Sylhet
UNB, Sylhet
At least 20 people were injured in a clash between the
activists of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) and police
near Sylhet Polytechnic Institute in the city on Tuesday.
Local sources said a section of BCL activists, led by
Ashik Ahmed, No. 25 ward Councilor and city Awami League
leader, brought out a procession at 11:30am demanding
eviction of Saikat Chandra Rimi, Convenor of Polytechnic
unit BCL, from hostel accusing him of harassing a female
student. A clash between police and processionists ensued
as they along with procession wanted to enter the campus.
A chase and counter chase and exchange of brickbats took
place, leaving 20 people injured. Police arrested four---Arif
Ahmed, Shafi Ahmed, Rahman Ali and Selim Mia-during the
half an hour clash.
The BCL activists later blocked Kin Bridge area in the
city by burning tire at about 3:30pm demanding the release
of the arrested BCL activists.
They left the area after RAB-9 members arrived there.
Back Page
285 posts for judges fell vacant
in lower judiciary
UNB, Sangsad Bhaban,
Some 285 posts of judges in the lower judiciary fell
vacant following the separation of the judiciary from the
executive, the Law Minister said in Parliament Tuesday.
Replying to Nur-e-Hasna Lily Chowdhury (JP), Law Minister
Barrister Shafique Ahmed said 17 posts for District Judge,
42 Additional Judge, 78 Joint District Judge, 71 Judicial
Magistrate, 8 Metropolitan Magistrate and 10 Senior
Assistant Judge/Assistant Judge posts remain vacant.
Shafique said 210 Assistant Judges/Judicial Magistrates
were appointed through the Judicial Service Commission and
the process is underway to appoint another 100 Assistant
Judge/Judicial Magistrates.
In reply to Golam Dastogir Gazi (AL), the Minister said 36
judges
and additional judges were appointed in the High Court
division by the present government. Of them 11 are regular
judges and 24 additional judges.
Replying to Begum Meher Afroz (AL), he said the total
number of lawyers in the country is 41,391, according to
government figure.
Replying to Matiur Rahman (AL), he said there are 6310
Nikah Registers (Kazi) in the country.
Bangladesh needs
stable public policies for sustainable industrialization:
UNIDO
UNB, Dhaka,
Bangladesh needs stable public policies with a risk-free
political environment to attract large volume foreign
investment and drive sustainable industrialization,
Director General of United Nations Industrial Development
Organization (UNIDO) Dr Kandeh K Yumkella said on
Wednesday.
"Public policy is very important for sustainable
industrialization because it takes an average of three to
five years to complete a major investment
process….companies are very concerned about having stable
public policy," Dr Kandeh said while talking to
journalists at the VIP Lounge of the Shah Jalal
International Airport today.
Replying to a question the UNIDO head said lack of proper
infrastructure is the key barrier to industrialization,
which is common in other developing countries.
"The investors need to be convinced that you (Bangladesh)
have solid infrastructure on the ground. And secondly
Bangladesh needs confidence that investment assets will be
protected….I think Bangladesh is way ahead in establishing
such a level of confidence," Dr Kandeh, who came here on
three-visit said.
He emphasized good public policies that provide incentive
and regulations to ensure that green technologies are
adopted. "Bangladesh needs to adopt green technologies to
make its growing industrial sector sustainable."
Expressing satisfaction over the implementation of the
UNIDO-supported programmes in Bangladesh, the UN body
chief said it is working together with Bangladesh to set
up a National Cleaner Production Centre (NCPC) which will
look at the whole concept of 'greening industry.'
"The NCPC will be based on four major pillars--- reduce
the use of natural resources, to be energy efficient, to
optimise water use, and reducing effluents, which will all
be part of our 'greening industry'," he said, adding that
they will also help Bangladesh in managing clinical waste.
He said they have identified some additional areas of
cooperation including medical waste management in
discussion with the Bangladesh government.
Brahmaputra
devours 15 houses, threatens two schools as water level
suddenly rises
UNB, Sherpur
A sudden rise in the water level of the Brahmaputra
sparked erosion of its banks in Sadar upazila Tuesday
morning, devouring 15 houses in Charpakkhimari union,
breaking four try-dams and threatening two school
buildings at Bepari Para.
Water Development Board officials informed that in the
last 24 hours ending 12pm on Tuesday, water level of
Brahmaputra increased by six centimeters at Sherpur Ferry
Ghat. But the river was still flowing below the danger
level at that point.
Bhagalgarh, Bepari Para, Chuniarchar, Jungledi and Dakater
Ghop areas of Charpakkhimari union in Sadar upazila were
the most erosion affected areas where 15 houses
disappeared in the twinkling of an eye in the morning.
In Bepari Para, four of the six try-dams erected on the
Brahmaputra banks gave in to strong current and erosion,
threatening two buildings.
The two buildings housing a couple of schools - Bepari
Para Govt Primary School and Bhagalgarh Primary School-
may fall into the river any time.
Sherpur upazila chairman Alhaj Md Iniyas Uddin told UNB he
visited the affected areas. Admitting that the river
devoured 15 houses and the two schools were on the verge
of being devoured, he was preparing a list of affected
people for rehabilitation.
The Brahmaputra's water level suddenly increased following
heavy downpours in the last few days and increased
movement of water downstream.
Placing shadow
budget outside Parliament
Opposition Leader violates Constitution: Suranjit
BSS, Sangsad Bhaban
Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the
Ministry of law, Justice and Parliamen-tary Affairs
Suranjit Sengupta on Tuesday told the House that Leader of
the Oppositions has clearly violated the Constitution and
the rules of procedure of the Jatiya Sangsad by placing a
"shadow budget" outside of parliament.
Taking floor on a Point of Order, he brought a complain
against the main opposition in parliament in this regard
and sought the Speaker's ruling for ensuring that the
lawmakers abide by the rules of procedure.
Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee and treasury
bench lawmaker Dr Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir, Advocate Fazle
Rabbi Mia, Abdul Mannan and JSD lawmaker Mainuddin Khan
Badal also spoke on the same issue on points of order.
Referring to Article 87 of the Constitution, Suranjit
Sengupta said a parliament member while taking oath is
committed to perform his or her responsibilities quite
faithfully.
As per Article 87, Finance Minister is to place budget in
the Sangsad every year, he said adding that Leader of the
Oppositions has placed a shadow budget at a hotel
violating the Constitution. In this respect, he referred
to the reports on this matter published in newspapers
Tuesday.
BNP finds no reason for joining
Parliament : Delwar
UNB, Dhaka
In a meeting packed with reporters at the BNP central
office on Tuesday, party Secretary General Khandaker
Delwar Hossain wondered how it can be possible for the
opposition to respond positively to the Prime Minister's
recent overture.
"How can we respond to her call positively after she
alleges we have called hartal in order to obstruct the war
crimes trial?" Delwar questioned, referring to the PM's
remarks that BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia could place her
proposals on the national budget in Parliament.
In fact, contended the BNP veteran, the hartal has been
called as the people are fed up with the government's
"misdeeds and misrule".
Doubting the sincerity behind the PM's recent call, he
expressed his belief that even if the BNP went to
Parliament to place their thoughts and proposals on the
budget, they would not be allowed the chance to speak in
detail. Rather, he said, the ruling party would resort to
creating a disturbing and unpleasant atmosphere in the
House.
Being aware of this, Khaleda Zia placed her budget
proposals from outside Parliament, according to Delwar.
The BNP stalwart also took the opportunity to continue his
party's protest against the government putting the now
defunct Bengali daily Amar Desh's acting editor, Mahmudur
Rahman, under police remand on Monday. He termed the
remand "illegal, unethical and motivated."
He condemned the mental torture allegedly unleashed on
Rahman under the pretence of interrogation, including
attempts to disrobe him in the torture cell.
Moving on to the mass sit-in program scheduled for
Wednesday and the hartal slated for June 27, Delwar said
they intend to carryout their programs peacefully in the
spirit of democracy.
But ending on a note of caution, he warned that if the
government obstructs them and derails these intentions, it
will have to bear the responsibility for any untoward
consequences that may ensue as a result.
Ratna's
marriage at Ganobhaban today, Runa may also tie nuptial
knot
UNB, Dhaka
All preparations are complete for the marriage ceremonies
of two sisters Sakina Akhter Ratna and Umme Faria Akhter
Runa who lost their mother and other family members in the
cruel blaze at Neemtoli in old Dhaka on June 3.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has arranged the marriage
ceremonies to be held at her official residence Ganobhaban
on Wednesday.
Ratna's marriage with Sayeedur Rahman Suman, a
businessman, was finalized Monday night when Ratna and
Sumon along with Runa and her would-be husband Jamil met
with the Prime Minister at Ganobhanan.
Jamil's family had earlier expressed the desire of holding
the marriage of Runa and Jamil after the return of Jamil's
elder brother from abroad.
A new development today indicates that Ratna's younger
sister Runa may also tie the nuptial knot with Jamil at
Ganobhaban tomorrow (Wednesday) at the same time, Prime
Minister's APS Saifuzzaman Shekhar on Tuesday evening told
UNB.
"Now we have come to know that Jamil's elder brother
contacted his family over phone and gave the consent on
Jamil's marriage with Runa. So, there is possibility of
arranging their marriage tomorrow (Wednesday) at
Ganobhaban," he said.
Shekhar also said Jamil's elder brother is expected to
arrive here Tuesday night from abroad.
Ratna's marriage ceremony will start from 7 pm.
Close relatives of the brides' and grooms' families,
elites from Neemtoli area, local MP and local political
leaders will attend the marriage ceremony, PM's APS said.
Asked about the shopping for Ratna and Runa's marriage
ceremony, he said the Prime Minister herself is looking
after it. "She is looking after everything just like their
mother."
Shekhar said everything including household materials have
been bought for the marriage ceremony of the two ill-fated
sisters.
Parliament told of govt
initiatives to publish BCS results
UNB, Sangsad Bhaban
The Public Service Commission (PSC) has published the
results of 45 examinations this year so far, the
Parliament was told on Tuesday.
Replying to a starred question by treasury bench lawmaker
M Israfil Alam (Naogaon-6), LGRD Minister Ashraful Islam,
who is in charge of PSC in the Parliament, said that the
government has taken initiatives to publish the PSC
examination results.
In this connection he said that a timeframe has been fixed
to publish the examination results from taking the
application considering the number of the applicants.
If the number of the applicants is less than 100 the final
result should be published within four months of the
closing date of the application submission.
The time is eight months if the number of the applicants
is from 101 to 1999 while the time is 18 months to publish
the final result if the number of applicants is over 2000.
The Minister said that the government issued a
notification that it fill non-cadre posts from the
applicants of the BCS examination. By this notification,
there is a scope to appoint non-cadre officials from the
applicants who will not be suggested by the PSC to be
appointed as 'cadre officials'.
"As a result, a higher number of applicants can be
appointed within a short time," he said.
He also said that now the written examination and
evaluation of the answer sheet is being conducted through
the 'litho-code answer sheet'. With this it would be
quicker to prepare the results after analyzing the answer
sheet than the coding and de-coding manually.
To quicken publication of the results, the PSC chairman is
monitoring the overall activities of the PSC every 15
days.
The PSC also introduced a separate OMR form for the cadre
and non-cadre applicants, the Minister said.
Editorial
Morality of Dhaka City
Dhaka
City, due also to the growing burden of overpopulation has put
overpowering pressure on it's inhabitants to such an extent
that the bounds of natural civilized living is being
continuously put at risk and inclusive in this condition is
the bifurcation of the individual psyche into a strained
difference, often opposing realities of public and private
spaces of individuals, which can hardly be found in the rest
of Bangladesh. Similar to the view that in extreme poverty,
adherence to morals becomes a triviality; thus so in the
condition of the dwellers of Dhaka City with regards to our
practicing morals. The breakdown of moral codes of conduct is
most visible on the City roads. The nature of vehicular
movement is not only 'naturally' outside of the traffic laws,
but further more of an outright display of violation of it. It
was recently in the news that out of every ten drivers, six
have fake driving licenses. Being completely illegal and
posing high risks of accidents, one outright consequence
includes that fact that how can one abide by the traffic laws
when one does not know it! Furthermore and yet we have
accommodated these 'violators' to drive our cars or drive
amongst us. This is not liberality on our part nor a
toleration worth merit but rather a measure we follow against
our conscience (which is a point well worth noting) and as
liars risk easily going into wrong deeds, we succumb to the
thought that our neighbors may have such deviant behavior,
which we have to accept without protest, simply based on the
fallacy that 'many people are doing it'! In whatsoever this
brings us into the discourses of our daily City living, it
definitely brings us to demean our fellow neighbor, road user,
making us hold a low image of him or her. Secondly, in doing
so (without protest), we intuitively, by allowing, accepting
and acquiescing to other's 'corruption' (here driving flouting
traffic laws and/or with fake license) we come to a condition
that 'so sometimes' we ourselves have to allow for our own
selves 'some deviation from morally correct action' mainly
because we are actors in the same system. As one consequence,
the traffic police is an authority we do not bother to listen
to, and with having reasons, because their governing image
becomes that of 'hey do you take toll money' to allow such
wrongs! Otherwise, do we normally think it possible on their
part to control the roads having a capacity of one and a half
lakh vehicles though astonishingly pressured by ten lakh
vehicles? In this circumstance, we tend to go for exemplary
laws with high deterrent based punishments which though on the
face of it keep us satisfied for a while, we soon realize that
they are oppressive once we are to face them. Who are we to
then blame, the laws, the law enforcers or our own selves? To
whichever direction we lead the blame to, it takes a toll on
our own psyche. The Honorable High Court on Monday ruled to
terminate three constables because they tried to requisition a
taxi cab illegally. The poor driver, not knowing the law,
protested basing his reasons on the hearsay of 'corruption' in
these situations, and incidentally he was right. But what
actuality does it reveal? This also shows that when we have a
low image of each other we tend to confirm to that image and
do away with consideration or responsibility to our fellow
City dwellers and commit wrong, because for one, we think
others to be 'corrupted' anyway. On top of these we dissociate
the accountability of our deeds telling our conscience that
'everybody does it', 'it is a facet of Dhaka City life', or
'be practical', or 'it's called survival' etc. But what are we
doing in doing this? For one, we are 'corrupting' our own
selves by holding the view that 'the country is corrupt'
(which it is). This is being continually reinforced everyday
from the basic deviant practices on Dhaka roads to the
political practices of many leaders of this country. One
consequence is that 'our country is not worth living in',
'let's look abroad'. But the many who cannot afford the
'abroad' divide themselves in rather quite opposing and
contradictory terms in 'public' and in 'private' lives, though
knowing fully well that wrong deeds committed in public are
still one's own deeds. We tend to be continually 'made' to be
open minded about 'corruption' being reinforced by the
calamities of land grabbing, falling bill boards, crises of
water, electricity and gas.
Just the other day as I was stuck in a traffic jam near Uttara
I was hoping not to find any accident in front wondering that
it may be a reason for the stuck up on the road. To my utter
thankfulness there indeed was no accident but a big steel
billboard was lying nearly halfway on the road! This is not
anything new, there have been numerous incidents with bill
boards but somehow they keep increasing alongside the roads of
Dhaka. The few greenery that we have on the Airport road is
marred by these ugly and 'eat the product if you may' bill
board advertisements that force their way into our minds only
to engage us more on the materiality of this world, for God's
sake we know there is a new fashionable mobile phone out in
the market! The city dwellers do not know whether the business
of the billboards is creating more jobs or the risk of them
falling on the roads and gas stations and causing economic
loss if not any human costs involved, is more befitting
consideration for the welfare of the people of this city. It's
a matter of how far we shall go or allow others to proceed,
before we face each other and say 'I have a gun'! Dhaka city
is not only unplanned and blindly urbanized but we fear if
this matter is taken seriously it is prone to remain for some
time as to 'who did it' blame game between the two big
parties, before we start to implement solutions that, along
with the return of civilized life of Dhaka, shall begin to
work on our conscience and prevent any further moral
degradation. Instead of signs of relief we witness sighs of
helplessness as canals and rivers are illegally encroached and
'grabbed' and built upon. Industrial wastes polluting our
lifeline rivers, high prices of essential food items taxing
the majority of the dwellers of this city with appalling
crimes of use of toxic chemicals in fruits and edibles! How
far O Lord...? While we try our own patience, many give in
with yet more impeding crisis of water, gas and electricity.
If high rise buildings tilt by themselves then we brace
ourselves of the dread of any earthquakes in this city!
When the government is thinking of bringing almost everyone
under the tax net, the real tax we are paying is the pressure
on our morality to still believe in the goodness of the person
of every human being and our humble attempt at trying our best
to do good deeds. We cloister around our kith and kin and
other friends and talk about how bad Dhaka is becoming. O how
bad Dhaka is getting O Lord! We are only humans trying our
best to live a good life in this city of ours for a good life
in the Hereafter. Please have mercy on us.
Analysis
Education Policy: Implementation will be the Challenge
The new policy will be implemented in phases
over nine years time, which will be requiring (circa) 68
thousand crore taka.
Ferdous Rahman
The long awaited
revamp of unified national education policy has been approved
by the cabinet with a recommendation to extend primary, which
is compulsory, schooling to eight years. The development and
implementation of a modern and efficient education policy has
long been a source of public outrage in Bangladesh as the
education system was running without any planning. As a
result, lot of anomalies was found in the existing system.
The new policy has made few changes at root level of the
education system. This is obviously a modern, timely and
dynamic step, which has been drafted by dividing the education
system in three stages - primary, secondary and higher
education. Now this will be required to be mandated in the
parliament.
The new education policy also recommends extending secondary
level to class twelve, as well as uniform curricula across
different school systems, modernizing masdrasa studies and
forming a permanent education commission. This new policy is
aimed to bring all under education irrespective of religion,
caste, community etc. The government has recognized the new
policy as non-communal instead of secular. Importance has been
put on technical and vocational education, which seems at
producing skilled workforce.
Article 17 of the Constitution of Bangladesh mandates that all
children between the ages of six and ten years to receive a
basic education free of charge. The country also conforms
fully to the objectives of Education For All (WFA) that a
global movement led by UNESCO, Millennium Development Goals (MDG)
and various international declarations.
Since independence, successive governments formed at least
nine education commissions including Dr. Qudrat-e-Khuda
Education Commission 1972. But none of them could be
materialized in full or in other words none of the policies
they created were implemented because of lack of political
will from governments of the day.
According to the figure of the UNDP, only 52.5 percent of
adults in Bangladesh are literate, while neighboring India has
a literacy rate of 62.5 percent. A dearth of proper teacher
training facilities has long been a source of concern.
The new education policy is one of the important agendas for
the present government that was included the election
manifesto. Awami League affirmed before the election that
enrolment in the primary level of education would be raised to
100 percent by 2010, and education up to the level of
bachelor's degree would be made free in phase.
The National Education Formulation Policy Committee was formed
last year with National Professor Kabir Chowdhury at the helm.
It comprises 16 other members including Dr. Quazi
Kholiquzzaman and Professor Mohammed Zafar Iqbal. I am sure
that, while drafting the policy, the committee definitely took
few important aspects in their cognizance; such as national
unity must be the aim including the values of liberation war
as the guiding light.
A holistic education policy implementation is most essential
in the reality of Bangladesh. All students need to be
developed their emotional, physical, social and intellectual
growth. It should ensure a recreational and creative
education. There should be joyful education instead of present
memorizing, pleasureless and discriminatory education.
It will acknowledge and emphasis the spiritual, intellectual,
social, physical and psychological needs of young children
from the beginning and continue to foster growth in each
child. Its implementation especially girl's rights to
education are a key priority in a radical revamp of the
education policy to boost the country's lackluster literacy
rate. A girl's right to education is a priority concern of
this new policy. All the students need to receive own religion
and ethical education. Special emphasis has been put on
indigenous peoples' education.
In Ebtedayi stage of masdrasa education, with specific class
lessons other important subjects are made compulsory such as
Bangla, English, Mathematics, Bangladesh Studies, morale
education, environment with social and climate change, IT,
science, religion and ethics. For conducting masdrasa
education, a separate masdrasa education directorate including
an affiliated Islamic university for approval will be
established. For managing the Qwami madsrasa, a separate
commission will be formed with teachers from those
institutions. This new policy will equip the ordinary masdrasa
students to compete globally.
Following this new education system, the next generation
should be modern, people and work centric as well as ICT
oriented. With more polytechnic, textile and leather
institutes in the country one technical education institute in
each Upazila will be established under the new policy. This
policy will also curb the commercialization of education.
Education Ministry carried out necessary vetting after
drafting the policy. Opinions of people from all walks of life
were sought and numbers of seminars (around 59) were also
arranged. Ulamas were consulted before finalizing the draft.
The new policy will be implemented in phases over nine years
time, which will be requiring (circa) 68 thousand crore taka.
The new education policy is a firm and decisive step towards
eventually making education as a fundamental right, which will
help to achieve global excellence. If the new education policy
can be implemented then peoples' expectation will obviously be
reflected. The implementation of this policy should be the
priority of successive governments based on the concept of
SMART (simple, measurable, accountable, responsive and
transparent) in order to establish a knowledge-based society
within 50 years of the independence of Bangladesh in 2021.
The author is a Coordinator, Media for Development (E-mail:
ferdous.rahmaan@gmail.com)
Afghan
jirga’s ‘feel good’ pledges
The Kabul jirga was a step forward as it embodied and
echoed the collective wish for peace of the Afghan people
through their representatives.
Rahimullah Yusufzai
The
twice-delayed Consultative Peace Jirga was finally held in
Kabul on June 2-4. Its outcome was predictable. It offered
support to President Hamid Karzai in the pursuance of his
still vague peace plan through negotiations with the
government's opponents. However, neither the 1,500-or-so
members of the jirga, nor the embattled president came up
with enough incentives to persuade the Taliban led by
Mulla Mohammad Omar to give up fighting and agree to
reconciliation.
The three-day event, held in the huge German-donated tent
used for three such national jirgas during Karzai's
nine-year rule, discussed every issue and encompassed
almost everything relevant in its 16-point resolution,
except the one that is the root-cause of the conflict and
the reason for the Taliban and former mujahideen leader
Gulbadin Hekmatyar's Hezb-i-Islami to continue fighting.
This issue is the presence of the US-led foreign forces in
Afghanistan since October 2001, and unless it is resolved
there is no possibility that the Afghan conflict will end.
The jirga, made up largely of pro-government delegates,
didn't demand withdrawal of the Nato forces because this
would have amounted to raising the level of threat to the
existence of the Karzai regime and handing victory to the
Taliban.
The centrality of this issue for the Taliban is evident
from their persistent demand that the occupying forces
must leave Afghanistan before they could consider talking
to the Karzai government. In case of Hekmatyar, agreement
on the timeline for the foreign forces' pullout would be
enough. Hekmatyar, by the way, compromised his position by
sending a party delegation to Kabul recently to negotiate
with Karzai even before any of his demands were met.
Besides, he and his badly split party Hezb-i-Islami are
presently a marginal player in Afghanistan's politics and,
in the battlefield, his being made part of a peace
settlement or being kept out won't make much of a
difference. However, national reconciliation demands that
each and every Afghan faction is brought into the
mainstream and given a stake in Afghanistan's future.
The Jirga was a landmark event on account of the
countrywide participation of delegates from across
Afghanistan's political, regional, religious and social
spectrum. It could have become even more representative
had former foreign minister Dr Abdullah and his supporters
attended the jirga. Since losing the fraud-tainted
presidential election to Karzai last August, Dr Abdullah
has been trying to rally the president's opponents on a
single platform. He is now the leader of an opposition
group that is seeking to win enough seats in the September
elections to parliament to be able to keep a check on
President Karzai's vast powers.
The jirga obviously lacked representation. The Taliban and
Hekmatyar's Hezb-i-Islami both rejected it outright and
even questioned the holding of the event amid the presence
of foreign forces that aren't accountable to the Afghan
government. Afghan jirgas in recent years have largely
been controlled by those in power in Kabul and inviting
the Taliban or likeminded groups to such gatherings would
have made it difficult to manipulate and manage the
outcome of the proceedings. Former Afghan communist
presidents Babrak Karmal and Dr Najibullah and mujahideen
ruler Burhanuddin Rabbani (who gave it the Islamic name
Shura Hal wa Aqd during his rule and ironically headed the
recent peace jirga too), also assembled Loya Jirgas of
their own liking in Kabul and got the assemblies to do
their biddings.
One remembers sitting in the Polytechnic Institute in
Kabul in 1987 attending the Loya Jirga summoned by
President Najibullah and listening to tribal elders and
clerics hailing him as a man of peace and backing his
reconciliation initiative with the Afghan mujahideen. Some
of the delegates attending Karzai's latest jirga had also
been present in Dr Najibullah's Loya Jirga and in
subsequent jirgas in Kabul, and had offered support to
whoever was in power at the time.
There was no way the Taliban could have agreed to send
their representatives to the recent jirga as it would have
meant recognition of the Afghan government and the
constitution and acquiescence to the presence of the
almost 150,000 foreign soldiers in Afghanistan. This has
been their persistent and inflexible stand all these years
and there is no indication they are willing to change it
in the wake of the peace overtures made to them by the
recent jirga. In fact, the jirga strived to offer as many
concessions to the Taliban as was within its power.
It recommended to the Karzai government the release of
Taliban prisoners in custody for unproved charges, help
remove the names of opposition figures, including Mulla
Omar and Hekmatyar, from the UN's "black-list" that
declared them "terrorists," and establish a commission to
negotiate peace with the Taliban. The jirga also demanded
strengthening of Islamic law, and this too was aimed at
appeasing the Taliban, who argue that Shariah enforced
during their rule has been replaced by Western-dictated
laws alien to Afghanistan's traditional Islamic society.
Showing some independence, the jirga in its
recommendations asked the Nato and Afghan forces to end
their searches of houses and unjustified arrests. The
night-time raids by the foreign forces invariably lead to
shootouts and civilian deaths, and the suffering and
violation of privacy cause much anger. The foreign forces
were also asked to avoid bombing civilian areas due to the
"collateral damage" that they cause. The US-led coalition
forces were requested to protect those changing sides and
joining the government under its reintegration programme.
In a bid to appear even-handed, the jirga lauded the US
and the international community for their support to
Afghanistan and urged them to make long-term commitment of
assistance to the war-ravaged country until it becomes
self-reliant. Though Karzai's peace initiative received
backing from the jirga, his government was brought under
pressure by being asked to improve governance, strengthen
the economy and fight corruption. Recommendations for
improving the law and order situation and protecting the
rights of women and children were also made. In short, the
jirga's recommendations espoused all the good causes,
striving to appease everyone and taking care not to annoy
anyone. It is a feel-good document, but the important
question is whether the recommendations could be
implemented.
President Karzai's peace plan revolves round
"reintegration" and includes offering of jobs, protection
and, without saying so, money to Taliban fighters willing
to change sides and lay down arms. Reintegration normally
follows reconciliation once the combatants have declared a
ceasefire and concluded a peace and power-sharing deal.
But in this case, reintegration is being attempted before
reaching a peace agreement and achieving reconciliation.
This is obviously the US policy as it seeks to defeat the
Taliban and weaken them through ongoing military
offensives instead of reconciling with them on their
terms. Simply put, the US strategy and by extension also
Karzai's at this stage is to buy off the Taliban
commanders and fighters, so that their top leaders,
including Mulla Omar, are isolated and weakened to such an
extent that they no longer pose a challenge to the Afghan
government and its Nato allies.
The Karzai government is powerless to implement the
jirga's recommendation to help remove the names of Mulla
Omar and other Taliban leaders, along with that of
Hekmatyar, from the UN "black-list" unless the US agrees
to do so. In fact, by designating the Taliban and Al-Qaeda
leaders in Afghanistan as "terrorists" the US-led invasion
of the country in 2001 received justification at the time
from the United Nations. If their names are now removed
from the UN list of "terrorists" the foreign forces in
Afghanistan would have difficulty justifying their
continued presence and would technically become occupiers.
The Karzai government would also find it difficult to
implement the jirga's recommendation to release Taliban
and other political prisoners, particularly those in US
custody in its detention centres at Bagram and in Kandahar.
The Kabul jirga was a step forward as it embodied and
echoed the collective wish for peace of the Afghan people
through their representatives. But it fell short of
creating the conditions for durable peace as it lacked the
power to persuade the Karzai government and, more
importantly, the US-led coalition forces, to agree to
terms acceptable to the Taliban.
The writer is resident editor of The News in Peshawar.
Email: rahim yusufzai@yahoo.com
Viewpoints
Obama, Bush alike when it comes to
Israel
Tel Aviv
knows it can always count on unwavering US support despite its
flagrant disregard for human rights.
Abdullah Al Shayji
On
the eve of the first anniversary of US President Barack
Obama's Cairo speech to the 1.5 billion Muslims across the
globe, the US proved that it does not miss an opportunity to
miss an opportunity to hold Israel accountable for its
mischievous behaviour and intransigence. To many disillusioned
Muslims there is little difference, if any, between George W.
Bush and Obama.
While Israel continues to behave like a rogue or even a pariah
state, it can always fall back on America's unwavering
support. Regardless of Tel Aviv's intransigence, the US does
no more than request it to exercise caution. Such actions only
reaffirm Washington's commitment to safeguarding Israel's
security.
Israel's latest transgression of attacking the unarmed Freedom
Flotilla has been internationally condemned, but the US is
muted in its response. The fact that the aid convoy sought to
break the inhumane, three-year-old blockade of Gaza made no
difference. The killing of nine activists in cold blood and
the seizing of ships carrying medical and food cargo along
with over 500 activists, parliamentarians, and journalists did
not perturb the Obama administration.
The US could not do anything more than say it needs more
information to determine what had happened. Nevertheless, in
the UN Security Council, Washington pushed member states to
endorse a watered-down presidential statement about the "acts"
i.e. equating Israeli commandos who attacked the ships and the
activists, who were trying to protect themselves.
Although Israel has embarrassed its staunch ally by repeatedly
derailing US efforts to jumpstart the Middle East peace
process, Washington never tires of providing Tel Aviv its
support on numerous occasions. It uses its veto power to
shelter Israel from global condemnation.
The US expressing dismay over the mention of Israel in last
week's UN nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) review is
another example of this politics. All the summiteers did was
call on Israel to join the 189 signatories to the NPT and to
participate in a conference in 2012 to make the Middle East a
nuclear free zone.
In a bind
The US has shot itself in the foot with its reaction to the
flotilla attack. Coming as it does in the wake of Israel's
forgery of western passports, which were used in Dubai by the
assassins of Hamas official Mahmoud Al Mabhouh, Washington's
stand validates the Arab and Muslim view that it backs
Israel's actions.
But US military concerns were made obvious by US Centcom
commander General David Petraeus's briefing to the influential
Armed Services Committee in the US Senate in mid-March.
General Petraeus argued on record that "the enduring
hostilities between Israel and some of its neighbours present
distinct challenges to our ability to advance our interest in
the AOR [area of operational responsibilities].
Israeli-Palestinian tensions often flare into violence and
large-scale armed confrontations. The conflict foments
anti-American sentiments, due to the perception of US
favouritism for Israel.
"Arab anger over the Palestinian question limits the strength
and depth of US partnerships with governments and peoples in
the AOR and weakens the legitimacy of moderate regimes in the
Arab world. Al Qaida and other militant groups exploit that
anger to mobilise support. The conflict also gives Iran
influence in the Arab world through its clients, Lebanese
Hezbollah and Hamas".
Further, Mossad chief Meir Dagan's blunt assessment of the
security situation is of interest. He declared that "Israel is
gradually turning from an asset to a burden". It seems that
Israel's assault on the Freedom Flotilla in violation of
international laws - an act of piracy - will have severe
consequences for the Jewish state. Israel has already been
described by one of its leading newspapers as being 'Lost at
sea'.
The prime minister of its former strategic ally, Turkey, has
accused Tel Aviv of "state terrorism". Israel's allies the
European Union, Russia, China along with the UN
Secretary-General are calling for the lifting of the blockade
on Gaza. The assault has drawn the world's attention to the
suffering of the people of Gaza. An outraged world is refusing
to be pushed around by a pariah state and its backers any
more.
Policy change
The global outrage has forced the US to talk about Gaza. It
seems that the Obama administration finally accepts that the
situation is "unsustainable" and there is a need to break the
impasse.
There is even talk about the need to change US policy on Gaza.
That policy should focus on lifting the blockade, opening all
the crossing points and ending the suffering of more than 1.5
million Gazans.
When an American columnist such as Nicholas D. Kristof writes
in the New York Times about "saving Israel from itself" then
there is something glaringly wrong with Israel's behaviour and
how far it has gone.
Israel has become a clear liability. Someone has to put some
sense into Tel Aviv's far-right leadership before the world
grows more impatient. Otherwise, Israelis should stop asking
the rhetorical question, "Why do they hate us"?
Professor Abdullah Al Shayji is the Chairman of the
Political Science Department, Kuwait University.
Catalyst for
national catastrophe in the Middle East
In fact, the
Hollywood image of Israel derives from its beautifully
scripted David-Goliath mythology in the battlefields of
the Middle East in the past six decade.
Matein Khalid
So
once again Israel wins the battle and loses the war. The
decision to launch a naval commando assault on the Mavi
Marmara cruise ship and the Gaza flotilla has irrevocably
lost Israel the friendship of Turkey and triggered
anti-Zionist riots in Istanbul, a city where Jews fleeing
the medieval Spanish Inquisition were welcomed five
centuries ago by Ottoman Sultan Selim in Ortokoy.
As in Lebanon in 2006 and Gaza in 2008, Israel's use of
lethal force led to a political backlash on the
international stage that its military planners simply
failed to ?anticipate or preempt. Israeli spies, generals
and hit squad chiefs, hailed as heroes of the Zionist
state for such events as the capture of the Nazi Adolf
Eichmann in Argentina, the raid on Entebbe and the
blitzkrieg Six Day War, the targeted killings of
successive Black September, PLO, Hezbollah and Hamas
commanders from booby trapped cars to aerial Hellfire
missiles fired from Apache helicopters.
In fact, the Hollywood image of Israel derives from its
beautifully scripted David-Goliath mythology in the
battlefields of the Middle East in the past ?six decade.
The Gaza flotilla is only the latest IDF engineered
debacle that disgraces, not ennobles, the Jewish people in
whose name the Praetorian adventurers in Jerusalem claim
to act. As long as Israel trusts the gun over the olive
branch, deifies uniformed assassins and commandoes,
worships the cult of the warrior, peace in the Middle East
is unthinkable. Even though its spy networks extend across
the Arab world, Israel has consistently misjudged and
miscalculated political events during past crises in the
Middle East. The Israelis were stunned when Sadat's
Egyptian combat troops overran the IDF's fabled Bar Lev
Line and crossed the Suez Canal in the opening moments of
the October 1973 war.
The Israelis backed their faithful ally Shah Reza Pahlavi
to the bitter end and never understood that their decades
long ties with the Peacock Throne were anathema to
Khomeini's visceral anti-Zionist revolutionaries. The
Israelis recklessly backed Bashir Gemayel's Maronite
Christian militia in their June 1982 invasion of Lebanon,
besieged and expelled Arafat's PLO from West Beirut,
destroyed Syria's air force/missile batteries in the Bekaa
Valley and installed their young warlord protégé as
President in the next three months.
However, Israel completely misjudged the meteoric rise of
Hezbollah as the political voice of the Shia refugees
displaced in Beirut's Dahiya by its own savage bombing
raids in South Lebanon. Hezbollah, not Israel, benefited
most from the exodus of the PLO from Beirut. Generals have
dominated Israeli politics since the establishment of the
Jewish state in May 1948. Yitzhak Shamir, Ehud Barak,
Moshe Dayan and Ariel Sharon were all generals in the IDF
before they scaled the pinnacle of Israeli politics.
Yet, as the history of the Maginot Line in France
demonstrates, generals who insist on fighting the last war
can be the catalyst for national catastrophe. In October
1973, June 1982 and July 2006, poor planning and reckless
strategic moves spelled disaster for the IDF and its
Hollywood enhanced global revolution for invincibility.
This seems to be the case with Netanyahu's Cabinet, which
failed to destroy Hamas in Gaza even though Defense
Minister Ehud Barak and Strategy Minister Moshe Yaalon are
both former IDF chiefs of staff.
It is easy enough for the IDF to kill an enemy commander
in a Beirut street or a Gaza refugee camp, but it is
impossible for the generals to extricate Israel from the
ominous fallout of their failed political and military
gambles. It is surely one of the history's cruel ironies
that the State of Israel is now an international pariah,
the Warsaw Ghetto with a seat at the UN, protected only by
the American veto.
As long as Israeli culture deifies the cult of the
warrior, IDF generals will continue to dominate the
Cabinet and the Knesset, continue to launch savage
military assaults that will never bring peace to the
Middle East.
Matein Khalid is an investment banker based in Dubai.
For comments, write to opinion@khaleejtimes.com
The hyphen that will not go away
Burns took considerable pains last week to reassure the
Indians that the US did not seek to re-hyphenate relations
with India. The only hyphen the US pursued, he said, was
the one that linked the United States and India.
Asif Ezdi
When
the Bush administration decided in March 2005, in
Condoleezza Rice's famous words, to "make India a major
world power in the 21st century," the cornerstone of the
new policy was to be a deal to lift the nuclear embargo
imposed against India and, no less important, to continue
the ban against Pakistan. US officials pointed out at the
time that the nuclear deal had finally de-hyphenated
Pakistan and India.
Last week, on the occasion of the US-India Strategic
Dialogue in Washington, Under Secretary of State William J
Burns echoed Rice's words in a speech intended to set the
stage for the high-level talks. Burns spoke of the United
States' deep strategic interest in sponsoring India's
emergence as a global power. The Obama administration,
Burns said, had been, and would remain, deeply committed
to supporting India's rise. That was, he said, a genuinely
bipartisan policy priority. Washington's desire to raise
India, a regional power, to the level of a global power
was stressed also by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at
her meeting with External Affairs Minister S M Krishna.
Burns also noted in his speech that the Obama
administration had followed through "energetically" on its
commitment to grant India the right to reprocess spent
nuclear fuel of US origin. What Burns omitted to say was
that the reprocessing agreement, the details of which have
not been made public, does not contain adequate safeguards
against the diversion of plutonium that would be extracted
from reprocessing imported fuel to India's weapons
programme. As the Washington Post pointed out on March 30,
although India has a breeder reactor capable of using
plutonium as fuel, it has refused to put that reactor
under IAEA safeguards. The newspaper noted also that India
diverted civilian nuclear fuel to build its first nuclear
weapons three decades ago.
The reprocessing agreement therefore raises the question
of whether it is in consonance with the United States'
non-proliferation obligations under the NPT. It certainly
goes against the commitment made by the US and other G8
countries at their summit last year to implement on a
national basis a ban on the transfer of enrichment and
reprocessing technology to countries which are not parties
to the NPT.
India secured several significant concessions in the
reprocessing accord.
First, the US gave up its demand for access to the
reprocessing facilities. The reprocessing will be
monitored under the agreement not by the United States,
but by the IAEA. The United States follows this model only
with Euratom and Japan.
Second, India insisted on having more than one
reprocessing plant. American negotiators initially
resisted, but in the end gave in to the Indian demand and
agreed to allow reprocessing at two sites. India will also
have the right to make additions and modifications at
these sites. This clause, Indian officials say, will allow
the country to boost its reprocessing capacity without
having to seek Washington's concurrence.
Third, the conditions under which the US could ask India
to halt the reprocessing of US-origin spent fuel have also
been narrowly defined. The agreement as finalised allows
Washington to suspend the reprocessing arrangements only
if there is a threat to physical security or to US
national security. India is satisfied with this outcome
because these are "highly unlikely scenarios."
Whether by coincidence or by design, the signing of the
reprocessing agreement was announced within days after the
Pakistan-US strategic dialogue held last March at which
Pakistan was told in unmistakable terms that access to
civil nuclear technology was out of consideration for the
foreseeable future. While Foreign Minister Qureshi was
expressing satisfaction to the media at his talks on this
subject, senior US officials including Burns and National
Security Adviser Jones were assuring their Indian
counterparts that the subject was not on the table with
Pakistan.
In his speech last week, Burns also made clear that as in
nuclear policy, Washington applied different yardsticks to
conventional arms sales to Pakistan and India. Burns was
asked by David Ignatius, a Washington Post columnist who
acted as the moderator, how wise it was for the US to be
selling a large weapons package, including advanced
fighters, to India, given the possibility of a major war
between that country and Pakistan. Burns argued that the
sales to India were consistent with the expanding role
that India was playing in Asia and in global security and
its commitment to help secure sea and air trade routes
that are important to "all of us in Asia." The arms sales
to Pakistan, in contrast, were focussed on helping enhance
its capacity to fight violent extremists. Moreover, as
Assistant Secretary Robert O Blake has said, there are
end-use monitoring provisions to make sure they are not
directed against India.
Burns' remarks should leave no doubt that US support for
building up India's military strength is part of a
long-term strategic plan, while the supply of any arms to
Pakistan is based on short-term expediency. This should
surprise no one who is halfway familiar with the history
of Pakistan-U.S. relations.
Shocking? Not really. Every country, especially great
powers, applies double standards all the time in the
pursuit of their national interests. The shocking thing is
not that the Americans do it, but that Pakistani leaders,
whether military like Musharraf or civilian like Zardari,
do so little about it, only because they need American
backing to stay in power.
Instead of whining about "discrimination," all Pakistan
needs to do is to serve notice on Washington and other
members of the Nuclear Suppliers Group that unless
Pakistan gets access to civilian nuclear technology at par
with India, it will continue to oppose a fissile material
treaty (FMT) at the Geneva talks and will not be a party
to the comprehensive test ban treaty (CTBT). They should
be told to call us when they are ready to give civilian
nuclear technology to Pakistan.
Without Pakistan's consent, negotiations on the FMT cannot
begin in the Conference on Disarmament (CD), and such a
treaty, if negotiated outside the CD, would be quite
hollow if Pakistan is not a party. The CTBT, in any event,
cannot enter into force if Pakistan does not sign up.
Whether Pakistan will be able to resist the external
pressure that will be brought to bear on us depends on
us-on our national character and our resolve.
Before becoming president, Obama the candidate recognised
the importance of addressing Kashmir to reduce
Pakistan-India tensions. He also saw the linkage between
Pakistan-India competition for influence in Afghanistan
and the stabilisation of that country. But India's
hysterical reaction to any such "hyphenation" quickly
forced the Obama administration to backtrack and India was
excluded from the remit of Holbrooke when he was appointed
special envoy for the region.
Burns took considerable pains last week to reassure the
Indians that the US did not seek to re-hyphenate relations
with India. The only hyphen the US pursued, he said, was
the one that linked the United States and India. In fact,
Burns said, there were some in the US who worried that it
was India which self-hyphenated by sometimes failing to
realise how far its influence and its interests had taken
it beyond its immediate neighbourhood and how vital its
role in Asia was becoming.
The abolition of the hyphen was first announced by Bush in
2005. Today, five years later, it is clear that news of
its demise was greatly exaggerated. Whether anyone likes
it or not, the hyphen is a stubborn reality. It is not
part of the problem, it has to be a part of the solution.
That applies not just to Afghanistan, it also holds true
for nuclear disarmament issues. Any policy which refuses
to recognise the reality of the hyphen will rest on shaky
foundations.
International
12 NATO soldiers
killed in Afghanistan in 24 hours
AFP, Kabul
Twelve NATO soldiers were killed in Afghanistan in the
deadliest 24 hours for the alliance this year, underlining
a growing Taliban momentum in defiance of calls for peace
talks.
Seven Americans, two Australians and one French soldier
were killed on Monday as they pursued a nearly nine-year
war against an insurgent Taliban militia that is seeking
to overthrow the Western-backed government. Two more
soldiers were killed in an improvised bomb attack in
southern Afghanistan on Tuesday, NATO's International
Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said, without giving any
further details.
Six of the US soldiers were killed by improvised explosive
devices (IEDs) and another was killed by small arms fire,
Washington announced. The two Australians, who were
training Afghan troops, were killed by a roadside bomb
during a patrol in the province of Uruzgan. France said
one of its troops was killed and three others wounded in a
rocket attack by Taliban militants in the east of the
country. Furthermore, two foreign contractors, one of them
American, were killed in a suicide attack on an Afghan
police training centre in the southern city of Kandahar on
Monday, the US embassy said.
The combat toll exceeded the deaths of 11 French soldiers
on one day in August 2008 and came after a landmark "peace
jirga" in Kabul last week agreed to offer an olive branch
to militants.
Some 1,600 delegates from across Afghanistan's political
spectrum endorsed President Hamid Karzai's plan which
included giving jobs and money to militants who lay down
arms, as well as removal of leaders from a UN terrorist
blacklist.
But the start of that meeting was interrupted by a
suspected Taliban rocket attack and many analysts dismiss
the peace efforts as idealistic and impractical.
"The priority in Afghanistan should be improving security
and governance," Haroun Mir, director of Afghanistan's
Centre for Research and Policy, told AFP. "The peace jirga
has emboldened the Taliban to see that everyone
else-including the international community-is trying to
buy their favour," he said.
Outrage in India over
Bhopal disaster verdicts
AFP, New Delhi
Indian politicians, campaigners and newspapers vented
outrage Tuesday at two-year prison terms handed to those
found guilty over the 1984 Bhopal gas leak disaster that
left thousands dead.
Anger focused on the 25-year delay in the convictions, the
perceived leniency of the sentences and the feeling that
the "big fish"-the chief executive of the US parent group
Union Carbide-had got away.
Seven Indian managers from the pesticide factory that
caused the world's worst industrial accident were found
guilty in a court in Bhopal on Monday and each sentenced
to two years in jail. They were all granted bail and will
now begin what promises to be a lengthy appeal process.
The two-year sentences were the maximum that could be
imposed after the Supreme Court in 1996 reduced the
charges from culpable homicide to negligence, but many
survivors said the guilty should be hanged.
"It is sad but true that we live in a country that does
not understand the value of life," Bhopal activist Hemlata
Sahay told AFP. "The guilty can easily get away and the
victims are destined to suffer." One survivor, Champa Devi
Shukla, said she "felt like an idiot holding a placard
outside the court while the accused left in big cars".
"Shame On India" headlined the Mail Today, while the front
page of The Times of India read: "Justice Delayed,
Denied."
The Express, The Times and NDTV news channel focused on
the "man who got away"-Union Carbide's then-chief
executive Warren Anderson, who fled India after the
disaster and was named as an absconder by the court.
The ageing former executive lives in suburban New York,
and the Hindustan Times blamed the Indian government for
allowing him "to live a life of ease far away in the US
while the victims struggle from day to day".
Anderson is unlikely to ever return to India, but Law
Minister M. Veerappa Moily told NDTV that the case against
him was still open and that he "can be still be tried".
Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the chief minister of Madhya
Pradesh state, of which Bhopal is the capital, demanded
radical legal reform and more help for survivors.
Parliaments used
legislation to render ineffective SC verdicts: CJ
Internet
The Supreme Court on Tuesday adjourned the hearing of
petitions against certain clauses in the 18th Amendment
till Wednesday, DawnNews reported.
During Tuesday's proceedings, Advocate Hamid Khan, counsel
for the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), said
judiciary's independence was directly linked with the
procedure of the appointment of judges.
The concept of the judicial commission was borrowed from
South Africa, Khan told the court. He further said that
the Supreme Court in Pakistan has never quashed any
constitutional amendment on the basis of the
constitution's fundamentals. However, the Indian Supreme
Court has been practicing judicial review and
interpretation and has on different occasions invalidated
constitutional amendments made by the parliament, Khan
said.
During the hearing, Justice Saqib Nisar said that in the
United Kingdom, a member of the parliament cannot be
involved in the process of judicial appointments.
Meanwhile, Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry said that in
the past, the parliaments here have used legislation to
render the Supreme Court's decisions ineffective.
Earlier, on Monday, Hamid Khan said that the concept of
the judicial commission was a violation of the Objectives
Resolution. Only in a handful of countries do parliaments
have a role in the appointments of judges, he said.
Sri Lanka PM says Tamil
rebels re-emerging
AFP, Colombo
Tamil Tiger rebels are re-emerging a year after their
defeat, Sri Lanka's prime minister said Tuesday, despite
the once-powerful guerrilla force launching no attacks.
D. M. Jayaratne told parliament that remnants of the
separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were
planning a comeback with financial backing from Tamils
abroad. "There are hardcore Tigers who are still mingling
among civilians," Jayaratne said. "During the month of May
alone we have arrested 77 hardcore Tigers who are believed
to have been directly involved in terror activities."
He said intelligence agencies reported that Tigers who
escaped the military onslaught last year were collecting
weapons they had stashed away to resume their struggle.
The Tigers have launched no attacks since being defeated
in May 2009, but the government maintains tough
anti-terror laws which are extended every month by
parliament. The opposition accuses the government of using
the emergency laws to stifle political dissent.
Last month, the prime minister urged Western nations to
crack down on Tamils living abroad who hope to revive the
armed struggle that cost the lives of up to 100,000 people
between 1972 and May last year.
Sri Lanka's government on Tuesday proposed maintaining
defence spending at nearly the same level as in the final
year of its massive military offensive against the rebels.
Figures presented to parliament showed that the government
had allocated 201 billion rupees (1.8 billion dollars) on
defence for 2010, down marginally from an estimated 210
billion spent in 2009. Defence spending in 2008 was 204
billion rupees.
Sri Lanka's key aid donors have asked the government to
prune the size of its budget to sustain economic stability
as the island emerges from nearly four decades of ethnic
strife.
Japan’s new PM pledges to
build a ‘vigorous country’
AFP, Tokyo
Japan's new centre-left Prime Minister Naoto Kan unveiled
his cabinet Tuesday and vowed to create a "vigorous
country," restore its public finances and mend strained US
relations.
Kan-a onetime left-wing activist who takes over as Japan's
fifth premier in four years-was due to be sworn in later
by Emperor Akihito along with his cabinet, which he dubbed
his "people's militia".
The new leader signalled he wants to rebuild US ties
damaged by a row over an American airbase that led to the
tearful resignation of his predecessor Yukio Hatoyama last
week after less than nine months in office.
The post-World War II Japan-US security alliance is "the
cornerstone" of Tokyo's diplomacy, Kan said days after
speaking with President Barack Obama.
Hatoyama stepped down after reneging on an election pledge
to move the unpopular Futenma airbase off Okinawa island,
giving in to Washington's demands but enraging locals and
splitting his ruling coalition.
Kan said: "About the Futenma issue... Japan and the United
States have reached an agreement and we have to work based
on that, but I will do my best to ease the burden for the
people of Okinawa."
On the economic front, Kan said Japan's investment
"bubble" had burst 20 years ago and the country now
suffers over 30,000 suicides a year, pledging: "I want to
rehabilitate Japan drastically and create a vigorous
country." With public debt nearly twice the size of gross
domestic product, a ratio far worse than that of
cash-strapped Greece, he said that "rebuilding financial
health is essential for Japan's economy".
"We are continuing to gather debt. This problem should be
handled as the country's biggest topic. This kind of
problem goes beyond party politics."
Announcing his new cabinet, the former finance minister
chose his deputy, fiscal hawk Yoshihiko Noda, to succeed
him as the steward of Asia's biggest economy, which is
recovering from recession.
In a show of continuity from the previous administration,
Kan kept 11 of 17 ministers in their posts, including
Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada and Defence Minister
Toshimi Kitazawa.
One new cabinet face was former model and TV presenter
Renho, 42, who uses only one name. Famed for grilling
bureaucrats for wasting public funds, she takes over as
minister in charge of administrative reform.
Turkey, Pakistan,
Afghanistan discuss security in Istanbul
Internet
The foreign ministers of Turkey, Pakistan and Afghanistan
held a close-door trilateral meeting here on Monday and
discussed issues of security and anti-terrorism.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said at a press
conference shortly after the meeting, "until our brothers
in Afghanistan have welfare, stability and peace, these
trilateral meetings will continue."
Without giving any detail information on anti-terrorism
among the three neighboring countries, the Turkish
minister reaffirmed Turkey's commitment to peace in the
region, saying a trilateral workgroup was to be
established comprised of foreign ministry
undersecretaries.
He said that the government was going to work closely with
Turkish businessmen to see if they can hold the Istanbul
forum in Kabul.
"It is important for the private sectors to meet," said
Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi.
Qureshi referred to the dramatic shift between Pakistan-
Afghanistan relations in recent years and how both now see
eye-to- eye on many issues.
"Both sides have very similar objectives. We will make
every effort to ensure peace, stability and prosperity in
the region," he said.
North Korea sacks PM; Kim
Jong-il consolidates power
Reuters, Seoul
North Korea named a brother-in-law of leader Kim Jong-il
to a powerful military post on Monday and sacked its
premier in moves seen as consolidating Kim's grip on power
and paving the way for his youngest son to succeed him.
Kim attended a rare session of the rubberstamp parliament,
the Supreme People's Assembly, to personally name Jang
Song-thaek as vice chairman of the National Defense
Commission, the North's KCNA news agency said.
The commission, headed by the "Dear Leader" himself,
represents the pinnacle of power in the hermit state.
The second assembly session in two months came amid
growing momentum in the international community to punish
Pyongyang for the sinking of a South Korean navy corvette
in March that killed 46 sailors.
Jang, who had once fallen out of Kim's favor but has since
returned to his inner circle, is the husband of the
leader's sister, and is viewed as the key figure for
ensuring a smooth transfer of power from Kim to one of his
sons.
"Jang would be the most trustworthy person to Kim who can
establish the foundation for succession to Jong-un," said
Park Young-ho of the Korea Institute for National
Analysis.
"This is a signal that they will be moving on existing
power structures, no innovation or openness or reform."
The parliament also sacked the country's premier, who is
considered the top economic official, and replaced him
with Choe Yong-rim, a member of the old guard and another
confidant of Kim's family who has been in key economic
posts. The dismissal of premier Kim Yong-il is likely
linked to a currency revaluation late last year that,
according to some media reports, incited widespread public
discontent.
Kim, who suffered a stroke in 2008, missed the previous
session of the Supreme People's Assembly in April, which
amended the country's constitution to strengthen his
power.
Kashmir separatists
reject Indian PM's talks offer
AP, Srinagar
The main separatist alliance in Indian Kashmir on Tuesday
rejected the Indian prime minister's offer of peace talks
as being nothing new.
India must repeal harsh detention laws, release hundreds
of political prisoners and withdraw hundreds of thousands
of army soldiers from the region before any dialogue, said
Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, the chairman of the moderate faction
of All Parties Hurriyat Conference.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Monday the government
was prepared to talk to any group opposed to terrorism and
violence in the region. Similar initiatives in the past
failed to make any headway. Singh returned to New Delhi on
Tuesday after spending two days in Indian-controlled
Kashmir reviewing development work and the security
situation. The separatists called a general strike to
protest the visit. The Farooq-led group had held three
rounds of direct talks with the Indian government in 2004
and 2005. However, the dialogue broke down after the
separatists demanded their inclusion in the India-Pakistan
talks on settling the Kashmir dispute. "Hurriyat
Conference is not an armed resistance group and the
government of India cannot talk to us in ambiguous and
uncertain terms," he said.
Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan, but is
claimed in its entirety by the two nuclear-armed neighbors
who have fought two wars over control of the Himalayan
territory.
Nearly a dozen rebel groups have been fighting since 1989
for Kashmir's independence from India or its merger with
Pakistan. More than 68,000 people, mostly civilians, have
been killed in the uprising and subsequent Indian
crackdown.
No
talks on nuclear issue if SC adopts fresh sanction: Iran
AFP, Istanbul
Iran will not agree to talks on its nuclear programme if
the UN Security Council adopts fresh sanctions, President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Tuesday.
"I have said that the US government and its allies are so
mistaken that if they think they can brandish the stick of
resolution and then sit down to talk with us, such a thing
will not happen," the Iranian leader told a news
conference here.
"We will talk to everyone if there is respect and fairness
but if someone wants to talk to us rudely and in a
domineering manner the response is known already," he
added.
His warning came as the UN Security Council prepared to
hold new closed-door consultations Tuesday on a fourth
sanctions resolution against the Islamic Republic after
its 15 members failed to reach a consensus on a meeting on
Monday. The council's five council permanent
members-Britain, France, China, Russia and the United
States-are co-sponsoring the sanctions draft and are
aiming to hold a vote later this week.
Ahmadinejad, who is in Turkey for the summit of an Asian
security grouping, urged Western powers not to dismiss a
nuclear fuel swap deal brokered by Turkey and Brazil last
month. The deal "was an opportunity for the US government
and its allies...I hope they will put this to good use.
Opportunities will not be repeated," he said.
The United States and other world powers have given a cool
reaction to the deal under which Iran agreed to ship 1,200
kilograms (2,640 pounds) of its low-enriched uranium to
Turkey in return for high-enriched uranium fuel for a
Tehran reactor.
Egypt to keep open
border with impoverished Gaza
AP, Sharm El-Sheikh
After three years of cooperating in the Israeli blockade
of Gaza, Egypt said that it will leave its border with the
Palestinian territory open indefinitely for humanitarian
aid and restricted travel.
With international pressure building to ease the blockade,
an Egyptian security official said on Monday that sealing
off Hamas-ruled Gaza has only bred more militancy. The
decision to ease the restrictions erected by Israel to
isolate and punish Hamas comes a week after a deadly
Israeli raid on a flotilla bound for Gaza. The move
restores a link to the outside world for at least some of
Gaza's 1.5 million Palestinians. It also appeared
calculated to defuse anger in the Arab and Muslim world
over Egypt's role in maintaining the blockade and to show
that Egypt, too, is now pressing Israel to open at least
its land crossings with Gaza. "Egypt is the one that broke
the blockade," Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossam
Zaki said. "We are not going to let the occupying power
escape from its responsibilities." The U.S., which has
called the current border restrictions unsustainable, is
among those pressing for changes. Vice President Joe Biden
met Monday with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in the
Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh.
He released a statement afterward saying the U.S. is
closely consulting with Egypt and other allies to find new
ways to "address the humanitarian, economic, security, and
political aspects of the situation in Gaza."
Israel to probe legality of
Gaza blockade, raid: Minister
AFP, Jerusalem
Israel plans to set up an investigative team to look into
the legality of the naval blockade on Gaza and of a deadly
raid on a flotilla which sought to break it, a minister
said on Tuesday.
"The committee that will be formed will examine two
questions: Is the naval blockade in line with
international law, and is the raid we conducted against
the flotilla also in line with international law?"
minister without portfolio Benny Begin told public radio.
Begin insisted that "the blockade is not only justified
but also vital, as the Hamas leaders who control the Gaza
Strip, as
well as some of the
flotilla's passengers, are no saints."
Israel's restricted cabinet late on Monday decided in
principle to create the team, but the decision still needs
to be ratified by the full government.
Israel is coordinating with Washington in the hope of
winning US support for a team made up of Israeli jurists
and former diplomats as well as two foreign observers,
according to media reports.
This would fall far short of the independent,
international investigation which several world leaders
have called for in the wake of the May 31 commando raid in
which nine Turkish citizens were killed in the eastern
Mediterranean.
The mass-selling Yediot Aharonot's front page headline of
"Commission light" reflected the opinion of much of the
Israeli media.
May deadliest month for
Darfur since 2008: Peacekeepers
AFP, Khartoum
Clashes in west Sudan's Darfur region cost almost 600
lives in May, the highest monthly death toll since
peacekeepers were deployed in 2008, according to a
UN-African Union document seen by AFP.
The surge in violence follows the breakdown of peace talks
between Darfur's main rebel group and the Khartoum
government and contradicts an August pronouncement by the
former chief of the UN-AU force's military operations,
Martin Agwai, that the civil war is over. "The parties to
a much-applauded Framework (peace) Agreement (in February)
could now be defined as 'belligerents' and it is not
anticipated they will convene peacefully in the short
term," said the confidential document.
It said 440 people died in fighting last month between
Darfur rebels and government forces, 126 in tribal
violence, and 31 in other violence, including murder.
In May, fighting broke out anew between the Justice and
Equality Movement, Darfur's main rebel group, and the
government after the JEM walked out of peace talks in the
Qatari capital Doha.
The document of the hybrid UN-African Union Mission in
Darfur (UNAMID) did not give a breakdown of the two sides'
losses.
The failure of the February agreement between Khartoum and
JEM "culminated in military confrontations leaving in its
wake the biggest number of fatalities ever recorded in a
single month: 597," including the tribal deaths, it said.
Two rival Arab tribes, the Rezeigat and Misseriya, have
also clashed in Darfur since March.
Gladiator graveyard
discovered in northern England
AFP, London
Dozens of headless skeletons excavated from a northern
English building site appear to be the remains of Roman
gladiators, one of whom had bites from a lion, tiger, bear
or other large animal,archaeologists said Monday.
Experts said new forensic evidence suggests the bones
belong to the professional fighters, who were often killed
while entertaining spectators.
Most of the skeletons were male and appeared stronger and
taller than the average Roman, with signs of arm-muscle
stress that suggest weapons training that began in the
men's teenage years.
The team investigating the remains said that one of the
best clues was carnivore tooth marks found on the hip and
shoulder of one of the skeletons.
"The presence of bite marks is one of the strongest pieces
of evidence suggesting an arena connection. It would seem
highly unlikely that this individual was attacked by a
tiger as he was walking home," said Michael Wysocki, a
lecturer in forensic anthropology and archaeology who
studied the skeletons. The bites were believed to have
caused the person's death, he said.
York - about 200 miles (322 kilometers) north of London -
was one of the largest cities in Roman Britain, and
experts believe bands of gladiators touring the Roman
Empire occasionally traveled here to put on fighting
shows.
Wysocki said gladiators were often beheaded as an act of
mercy after suffering horrific injuries during their
fights. All of the skeletons were buried with pottery,
animals or other offerings, suggesting they were respected
people, not criminals.
But some experts said more evidence was needed to prove
that the York burial ground was exclusively for
gladiators.
"It's clearly a very intriguing cemetery, but I'm
skeptical. Identifying gladiators is always tricky," said
Jim Crow, the head of archaeology at the University of
Edinburgh. "There could be a host of circumstances for a
group of men who've lost their heads - they might be
soldiers beheaded for some particular reason."
US official seeks more
funds for Vietnam War clean-up
AFP, Hanoi
A senior US official heard Tuesday how unexploded war-time
bombs are still killing Vietnamese and said he would
return home to seek additional funding to help Vietnam
reduce the threat.
On another legacy of the Vietnam War, Assistant Secretary
of State for Political-Military Affairs Andrew Shapiro
said clean-up of contamination from the war-time herbicide
Agent Orange is expected to start next year.
"I was quite moved by the description of some of the
tragic losses and injuries that have been caused by UXO
(unexploded ordnance), and I will bring that back with me
to Washington as we seek to identify additional
resources," said Shapiro.
"I had extensive briefings and discussions regarding how
the United States can support UXO clearance in Vietnam,"
he said at a joint news conference with Pham Binh Minh,
Vietnam's vice-minister of foreign affairs.
They spoke after their third annual political, security
and defence dialogue.
Shapiro said the US will provide 3.5 million dollars this
year for clearing unexploded ordnance in Vietnam, where US
forces fought for several years in the 1960s and early 70s
before the country's reunification in 1975.
The US and Vietnam have also been cooperating on
preliminary measures to clean up potentially
cancer-causing dioxin at Danang airport. Dioxin was a
component of Agent Orange and other herbicides sprayed as
defoliants during the war.
Late last year the US awarded a contract for a year-long
project to build a secure landfill site to hold
contaminated soil and sediment at the airport.
US reporter Helen Thomas
quits over Israel comments
Internet
Veteran US White House reporter Helen Thomas has retired
after making controversial remarks about Israel.
In an interview on 27 May, she said that Israelis should
get "the hell out of Palestine" and suggested they went to
Germany, Poland or the US.
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said her comments
were "offensive and reprehensible". She has since
apologised. Thomas, 89, was the longest-serving reporter
in the White House.
She has spent most of her career working for United Press
International wire service, but had been working as a
columnist for Hearst newspapers since 2000.
"Helen Thomas announced Monday that she is retiring,
effective immediately," Hearst news reported.
"Her decision came after her controversial comments about
Israel and the Palestinians were captured on videotape and
widely disseminated on the internet."
Thomas's remarks were made in a video interview with the
website RabbiLive.com, when she was asked whether she had
any "comments on Israel".
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
Online service easing
procedure of job application
BSS, Dhaka
Over 130 thousand job seekers across the county could made
online application without hassle and wastage of time for
the post of government secondary school teachers this year
through the web portal of the Directorate of Secondary and
Higher Secondary Education.
Following development of the web portal with the support
of Access to Information programme, job seekers are no
more needed to stand in long queues at the banks to pay
their job application fees or send qualification
certificates by postal services.
They just used the Internet for filling up the digitized
prescribed forms using Teletalk mobile network for paying
application fees. The web portal which had a link page
with Teletalk received unexpected response from the users.
Teletalk Marketing chief Habibur Rahman told BSS that they
were surprised to receive such a big number of applicants'
request to submit the prescribed form uploaded in the web
portal.
"It proves that the mass people of the country need the
digital technology in their day to day life and they can
use the opportunity of new technologies, if they could
made aware of the facilities," he added.
He said due to easy procedure of application through the
Internet the Secondary and Higher Secondary Education
Department received 30,000 more applications this year
compared to the previous years.
Talking to BSS, one of the applicants Ahmed Selim said,
"It worked like magic. I could submit my application in
five minutes which earlier required at least four to three
days."
Mosammet Mahmuda Akhtar, another applicant, said she could
apply only because of the facilities otherwise it would
have been impossible on her part to submit the application
because of household preoccupation.
The huge response of online application across the country
has proved the government action plan to build digital
Bangladesh is bringing positive results in the fields of
development . "The success of getting 30,000 more
applications for the post of secondary teachers through
online can be marked as a milestone of the government's
endeavor in building digital Bangladesh," he said.
Teletalk Bangladesh Ltd, the only state-run telecom
company of the country, took the initiatives in
collaboration with the Directorate after getting huge
response in receiving applications for enrollment in
Shahjalal University.
Teletalk Marketing Chief said their software experts had
developed the new programme for the online application
procedure which was managed by the own server of the
company.
Habibur Rahman said they are presently working on
receiving applications for the post of teachers at private
schools. "We have the plan to bring all kinds of job
application procedure under online services in near
future," he said. Like apply for job or tender through
online various digital innovative initiatives are being
undergoing across the country in line with the
government's vision for building digital Bangladesh.
Romania keen to assist
Bangladesh in power sector development
BSS, Dhaka
Romania is keen to provide its cooperation to Bangladesh
in the development of energy sector including nuclear
power to help the government in resolving acute crisis of
electricity.
"Romania can provide assistance in development of nuclear,
coal, solar and wind power generation system in the
country," newly appointed Delhi based Romanian Ambassador
to Bangladesh Valerica Epure said while presenting her
credentials to President Zillur Rahman at Bangabhaban
here.
During the ceremony, the President expressed his
satisfaction over the excellent bilateral relations
between the two countries and said Bangladesh values
Romania as an important member of European Union.
Recalling Romania's recognition to Bangladesh immediately
after its independence on June 28, 1972, Zillur Rahman
said the two countries have no irritants excepting scopes
for further consolidating the existing relations.
The President observed that there are enormous
opportunities of expanding and further consolidating ties
between Dhaka and Sofia in the trade and commerce sector.
He urged the Romanian businessmen to import more world
standard Bangladeshi made ocean ship, ready-made garments,
leather and jute goods considering their competitive
prices.
Zillur Rahman also urged the Romanian entrepreneurs to
invest in the country's potential sectors as a very
investment friendly atmosphere is prevailing in the
country.
The President urged the Romanian government to open a
resident mission in Dhaka with view to expanding the trade
and commerce relations between the two countries.
The new envoy assured the President that she would do her
level best to expand the trade volume between Bangladesh
and Romania through exchanging high level visits during
her tenure.
Secretary of the President's Office Safiul Alam, Foreign
Secretary Mijarul Quayes, Military Secretary to the
President Maj Gen Abul Kalam M Humayun Kabir and Press
Secretary to the President A K M Nesar Uddin Bhuiyan were
present on the occasion.
Earlier, the ambassador was given a guard of honors by a
contingent of the President Guard Regiment.
Balanced budget for digital BD
sought
BSS, Rangpur
Speakers at a seminar here Monday said that formulation
and proper implementation of a balanced budget can help
establish a digital Bangladesh.
The government has achieved tremendous successes in
various sectors including agriculture during the outgoing
fiscal and keeping prices of essentials within the reach
of the common people despite global economic recession in
recent years, they said.
To keep up the successes, formulation of a more effective
and balanced national budget is essential, they said.
They were addressing a seminar titled 'National Budget
2010- 11: Challenges and Response' organised by the
Department of Economics of Begum Rokeya University,
Rangpur (BRUR) at the TTC auditorium in the city.
They put special emphasis on Private Public Partnership
(PPP) and infrastructural developments for bolstering
industrialisation and attracting more local and foreign
investments in various prospective sectors.
They also suggested keeping adequate allocations for
education, ICT, rural infrastructures, water and human
resources, social safety net, SMEs, women empowerment
through their more participation in economic activities.
The upcoming national budget should effectively focus on
the strategy of attaining food security and ensuring
development of all socially backward sections, aboriginal
people and people with disabilities, they said.
Chaired by Chairman of the Department of Economics of BRUR
Md. Morshed Alam, the seminar was addressed by Treasurer
of BRUR Prof Mozammel Haque as the chief guest. Prof Dr
Irshad Kamal Khan of the Department of Economics of the
University of Chittagong, Director (Resource &
Environment) of RDRS Dr Syed Samsuzzaman, Dean of the
Faculty of Business Administration of BRUR Dr Motiur
Rahman and Registrar (In-charge) of BRUR Dr RM Hafizur
Rahman spoke as the special guests.
Teachers and students of the Department of Economics of
BRUR, academicians, noted economists and professionals
took part in the seminar.
UNICEF praise govt. dev
programmes, assure continued assistance, support
UNB, Dhaka
United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has assured of
continuing its support and assistance to the present
Bangladesh government in its endeavor to attain the
socio-economic development goals.
UNICEF Representative in Bangladesh Carel de Rooy gave the
assurance when he paid a courtesy call on Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina at the Prime Minister's Office.
Carel de Rooy expressed his strong hope that the present
government under the active leadership of the Prime
Minister will be able to ensure safe and improved living
standards for children and mothers across the country. In
this regard, the Prime Minister said that her government
is strongly committed to reducing child and maternal
mortality to a great extent.
The UNICEF Representative appreciated the Bangladesh
government's programmes for creating a social safety net.
"UNICEF will continue to cooperate with your government to
attain the objective of social safety net," he assured the
Prime Minister. Thanking the UNICEF for its cooperation,
the Prime Minister said since assuming the office, the
present government is working round the clock to change
the fate of the people.
"We are giving our maximum efforts to bring full peace and
prosperity in our people's lives," she said. On literacy
and education, the Prime Minister said Bangladesh was
supposed to completely remove illiteracy from the country
by 2006. "Our previous government had increased the
literacy rate to 65 percent from 45 percent. But the next
government did not continue the progress in the education
sector," she said. Hasina said the present government has
again chalked out elaborate programmes to build an
educated and thoughtful nation.
Rajshahi College reintroduces
intermediate course after 14 years
BSS, Rajshahi
The ancient Rajshahi College is afoot to regain life with
reintroduction of intermediate course from this academic
season after a long 14 years, bringing a shy of relief
among the admission seekers and the guardians concerned
here.
According to officials sources, admission activities have
been started with distribution of forms since Monday after
launching second shift.
In last 1996, teaching activities of the higher secondary
course had been declared suspended in the collage due to
accommodation and teachers crises following introduction
of honors course in multiple subjects along with rising of
students. The Education Ministry permitted the college
authority to reintroduce the course in response to the
repeated demand by various local pressure groups just
after publishing of the SSC results.
Admission crisis in the city's educational institutions
would be removed in a greater extent with reintroduction
of the intermediate course in the college.
"We have accommodation facilities and teaching staffs for
300 students in science group and another 300 in
humanities and commerce groups in the preliminary stage,"
said Prof Dr Ali Reza Muhammad Abdul Mazid, Principal of
Rajshahi College.
He, however, said new accommodation facilities should be
created for more students in addition to the existing
pass, honors and masters courses.
Chairman of Rajshahi Education Board Prof Dr Dipakendra
Nath Das told BSS that the decision would help removing
admission crisis in the intermediate course as the
Rajshahi board has attained remarkable results in the SSC
examination.
Storm lashes 29 villages in
Joypurhat
BSS, Joypurhat
At least 15 people were injured, 150 dwelling houses and
50 shops damged and huge trees uprooted as a storm lashed
29 villages in Sadar and Panchbibi upazila in the district
on Monday.
Local sources said the affected villages are Dhalahar,
Bishaupur, Dogachi, Uttar Joypur, Khanjanpur, Vadsha,
Durgadaha Bazar, Joyparbotipur, Jamalganj, Narayanpur,
Belamla, Kesobpur, Parulia, Bulupara, Awasgara, Jamalpur,
Tegnor in Sadar upazila and Bagzana, Dharongee, Lakma,
Aymararulpur, Koria, Balighata, Budhail, Kashbatta and
other villages. The storm lasted for about 45 minutes
before damaging the houses, business establishments and
snapping power connection and telephone lines in the
affected areas. The most shops were damged at Durgadaha
and Degachi Bazzar.
Man gets life term for
violating child in Dinajpur
UNB, Dinajpur
A court here on Monday convicted a man and sentenced him
to life term rigorous imprisonment for violating a minor
girl.
The court also fined Rubel Mormu, 26, son of Rabon Mormu
of Kalu Para village of Ghoraghat upazila, Tk 10,000, in
default, to suffer one year more RI.
According to the prosecution, Rubel violated a minor girl
at Kalupara village in Ghoraghat upazila after capturing
her from a road at noon on 18 March, 2007.
Hearing her cry villagers came to the spot and found her
in critical condition as Rubel fled away from the scene
sensing their presence.
A case was filed under Women and Child Repression
Prevention Act in this connection.
After examining the records and witnesses, judge of Women
and Child Repression Prevention Tribunal, M Shamsul Huda
pronounced the verdict.
Sports
Goal scorers gunning for Golden Boot
AFP, Paris
The world's deadliest finishers will be out prospecting over
the coming month in South Africa as they look to land the
World Cup golden boot award.
Ronaldo, Gerd Muller, Gary Lineker, Paolo Rossi - the roll
call of previous winners trips off the tongue and at least a
dozen of today's top strikers will be vying for the honours at
this year's finals in South Africa. Brazilian legend Ronaldo
wrote his name into the history books four years ago in
Germany when he bagged his 15th World Cup goal, beating the
record of Germany's Muller set in 1970.
Ronaldo top-scored in 2002 on the way to lifting the trophy as
he brilliantly left behind memories of the 1998 final loss to
France, in which he was largely anonymous after suffering an
apparent seizure before kickoff.
The former Inter Milan, Barcelona and Real Madrid star was the
fifth Brazilian to top the goal charts at a finals - Vava and
Garrincha shared the award in 1962 with four other players.
Four years ago, it was German sharpshooter Miroslav Klose, who
bagged seven goals in qualifying for this year's event, who
won the accolade on home soil even though his country only
reached the semi-finals.
Klose will be looking to become the only man to win the golden
boot for a second time as the Germans - always there or
thereabouts - hunt down a fourth World Cup win.
But he has competition aplenty, not least in the shape of
England's Wayne Rooney, who has averaged just under a goal
every other game in winning 60 caps to date.
Injury cut short his breakthrough international tournament at
Euro 2004 and he was not fully fit going into the 2006 World
Cup but if any of Fabio Capello's men can emulate 1986 golden
boot winner Gary Lineker it's the Manchester United forward.
In normal circumstances, the odds would be fairly short on his
former United teammate Cristiano Ronaldo, who netted 42 goals
in all competitions while still at Old Trafford in 2008 and
top-scored (in all competitions) for Real Madrid in his maiden
season in Spain. Nonetheless, a quirk of Portugal's laborious
path to the finals was the 25-year-old's failure to the hit
the target at all.
Sevilla's Luis Fabiano will likely be the auriverde's main
candidate to finish top of the goalscoring charts having hit
five goals in five games in Brazil's Confederation's Cup
victory last year. For rivals Argentina, take your pick from
Lionel Messi, Carlos Tevez, Gonzalo Higuain - who outscored
Ronaldo in the league - and Sergei Aguero - son-in-law of
coach Diego Maradona.
Fabiano doesn't think Messi will be the man taking home
precious metal footwear, however, despite his 34 goals for
Barcelona.
"He is ruthless with Barcelona, but he becomes more timid with
Argentina," the Brazilian said in a recent interview with
Italian media.
Mario Kempes - six goals for 1978's champions and Guillermo
Stabile - eight in the inaugural event in 1930 - are
Argentina's previous golden boot winners.
Anyone looking for a two-way bet on the top scorer might like
to try Spain, with both Fernando Torres and sidekick David
Villa as cute as they come when it comes to finding the net.
Torres needs no introduction as the man whose goal won Euro
2008 for the Spaniards while Villa is now Spain's second
all-time top-scorer and his 21 La Liga goals for Valencia
earned him a move to Barcelona.
In scoring the goals which won Atletico Madrid the Europa
League title former Manchester United misfit Diego Forlan will
be out to spearhead Uruguay's assault on a first World Cup win
in 60 years while Roque Santa Cruz will assume the
gunslinger's role for Paraguay.
Then there's France, whose Just Fontaine scored a record haul
of 13 in 1958 but who this time qualified rather ignominiously
following Thierry Henry's handball against the Republic of
Ireland in their playoff.
Nicolas Anelka is coming off a strong season with Chelsea but
has never been prolific in the national shirt. However, the
French do things a little differently. On the way to glory in
1998 their centre forward Stephane Guivarc'h did not score a
single goal.
That mattered little, as the likes of midfielders Zinedine
Zidane and Emmanuel Petit assumed the responsibility of
putting the ball in the net.
Top
priority to school cricket from next year
UNB, Dhaka
Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) will give top priority to host
the Standard Chartered National U-16 School Cricket Tournament
from next year across the country.
"BCB will also try to make the tournament more colorful, more
popular," BCB president AHM Mustafa Kamal said at a press
conference at Sonargaon Hotel in the city today (Tuesday).
He said that this year they have a plan to make cricket
pitches at 100 school grounds across the country at the
expense of BCB.
The BCB boss said they will try to organize the final round of
the next year's school cricket meet in Dhaka to pull more
crowds.
Meanwhile, BCB game development committee picked up 28 school
boys for the national U-15 training camp while another 28
players have been called for national U-17 training camp from
the recently concluded National U-16 School Cricket
tournament.
Both the training camps will be held in Dhaka at dates to be
announced later.
BCB director and Tournament Committee chairman Gazi Ashraf
Hossain, Game Development Committee chairman Aminul Huq Moni,
Standard Chartered Bank CEO Jim McCabe and its Head of
Corporate Affairs Bitopi Das Chowdhury were present at the
press conference.
Premier
League clubs continue to defy global recession
AFP, London
Premier League clubs continue to defy the global recession
as a new report shows revenue from the top 20 teams in
England reached a record 1.981 billion pounds in 2008-09
and is likely to have exceeded two billion pounds in the
2009-10 season.
According to the latest Annual Review of Football Finance
from the Sport Business Group at Deloitte, new broadcast
contracts will drive a further increase in revenues to 2.2
billion pounds in 2010-11.
In total, the 92 English clubs saw revenues increase by
100 million pounds to over 2.5 billion pounds in the
2008-09 season.
Dan Jones, Partner in the Sports Business Group at
Deloitte, said: "Despite the sharp economic contraction,
Premier League clubs were able to increase revenues by
three percent in 2008-09.
"Whilst commercial income fell marginally, both matchday
and broadcasting revenues increased. For the 2009-10
season just ended, combined attendances for the Premier
League and Football League exceeded 30 million - a level
not seen since well before the introduction of all seated
stadia. "When you factor in the recently negotiated
Premier League overseas broadcast deals, which come into
effect from 2010-11, football has shown remarkable
recession resistance during these difficult economic
times."
While the overall picture remains bright for English
football's big-guns, the problems of Portsmouth, who last
season became the first Premier League club to go into
administration and have debts of 130 million pounds, show
that owners of less powerful teams must keep a tighter
rein on spending.
The Deloitte reports shows that Premier League clubs'
operating profits more than halved from 185 million pounds
in 2007-08 to 79 million pounds in 2008-09.
"The challenge for clubs continues to be converting their
impressive year on year revenue growth into sustainable
levels of profits that allow for continued investment in
infrastructure and talent," Jones said.
"This is particularly the case as credit is likely to
remain less available to football clubs than it was two or
three years ago."
The 49 million pounds increase in Premier League clubs'
revenue was less than half the 132 million pounds increase
in wage costs, driving total wages up to more than 1.3
billion pounds.
Gross transfer spending by Premier League clubs also
increased from 664 million pounds in 2007-08 to a record
713 million pounds in 2008-09.
Alan Switzer, Director in the Sports Business Group at
Deloitte, added: "The record wages to revenue ratio of 67
percent in the Premier League in 2008-09 is a concern, and
we expect wages growth to outstrip revenue increases again
in 2009-10.
"This will further reduce operating profitability, a
decline that cannot continue indefinitely. However, clubs
have the opportunity, via the revenue uplift from the new
broadcast deals from 2010-11, to get wage levels down to a
more sustainable share of revenue. It's not the first such
opportunity.
Nishikori beaten by Gasquet
AFP, London
France's Richard Gasquet condemned Kei Nishikori to a
first round exit at Queen's Club with a 6-3, 6-3 win over
the Japanese youngster on Monday.
Gasquet, the 11th seed, had too much grass-court cunning
for Nishikori, who is working his way back to his best
after an elbow injury and the Shimane-born star never
threatened to make it to the second round of the
pre-Wimbledon warm-up event in London.
Nishikori's ability was just beginning to produce
significant results before the elbow problem stalled his
progress in 2009.
The 20-year-old's triumph at the Delray Beach event in
2008 was the first ATP title won by a Japanese man in
nearly 16 years and he followed that by reaching the US
Open fourth round.
However, Nishikori is now languishing outside the top 200
and he has been working his way back to form on the less
prestigious Challenger circuit.
He was a clear underdog against a player of Gasquet's
talent, but even so he would have been disappointed with
the tame way he dropped serve in the first game of the
match.
Nishikori battled gamely after that but Gasquet took the
first set with a second break of serve.
Gasquet, a former world number seven and Wimbledon
semi-finalist, broke again early in the second set before
closing out the match.
The Frenchman, who plays America's Rajeev Ram next, said:
"Kei's a great opponent so I'm happy to win. I didn't play
here last year but I always have good feelings whenever I
play on grass courts."
Elsewhere, Brazil's Marcos Daniel, a 6-1, 6-4 winner
against Blaz Kavcic, will provide Rafael Nadal with his
first test since winning the French Open for a fifth time.
Nadal, who has a first round bye, regained the world
number one ranking with his Roland Garros final win over
Robin Soderling on Sunday.
Spain's Ivan Navarro earned a shot at defending champion
Andy Murray, who has a bye to the second round, after
beating Daniel Koellerer 6-3, 6-4.
Fourth seed Andy Roddick, given a first round bye as he
chases a record fifth Queen's title, will play Igor
Kunitsyn after the Russian defeated Illya Marchenko 1-6,
6-4, 6-3.
Second seed Novak Djokovic, another star allowed a bye,
will play Paolo Lorenzi following the Italian's 6-4, 6-4
win over Pere Riba.
Blue Samurai
warned about crime scare
AFP, George
Alarmed by South Africa's notoriously high crime rate,
Japan coach Takeshi Okada has told his charges to stay
firmly inside their luxurious hotel while at their base
camp.
"This is a country where you can rent a machine gun for
10,000 yen (110 dollars)," Okada said when asked what he
had told the Blue Samurai players at the start of their
first training session upon arrival in George on Sunday.
"There are people who may think it is alright to borrow
10,000 yen and then earn 50,000 yen," he told reporters.
He was quick to ask diplomatically: "Don't you write about
such a thing."
But it was too late as the Japanese media were hungry for
news while stuck in this sleepy, sun-kissed tourist resort
along South Africa's scenic "Garden Route" coastline which
is considered relatively safe.
Okada said he had told the players "not to go out in a
carefree manner." He also advised them to ask the hotel
manager for a guard to accompany them when they want to go
out shopping. "They should stick with other people."
Underdogs Japan, fighting back from four straight
international defeats before their World Cup Group-E
opener against Cameroon on Monday, are being lodged at the
five-star Fancourt, South Africa's premier hotel and golf
estate.
They are occupying 50 of the 150 rooms there, accompanied
by chefs from home and paying an estimated 670 dollars a
night for a room in four-room cottages.
The sprawling, 613-hectare estate is surrounded by an
electric fence with four guards seen at its main gate, as
big as a football goal. Two of them are armed with guns.
Fancourt has three golf courses designed by the legendary
Gary Player, a conference centre, recreational facilities
with a spa, and a variety of restaurants including a sushi
shop.
It has been considered a good luck spot for Japanese since
2005 when Japan's Ai Miyazato teamed with Rui Kitada to
lift the inaugural women's golf World Cup there.
Kashima Antlers defender Atsuto Uchida, set to join
Schalke 04 after the World Cup, quipped about the near
curfew. "Being a football player, I can learn about
different cultures."
Fancourt's peaceful atmosphere has caught the fancy of key
centre-back Yuji Nakazawa. "There are many spots to stroll
around. I want to visit them all while I am here for one
month," the 32-year-old said, indicating he hopes to stick
around for the grand final.
Japanese journalists, accustomed to safety in their
disciplined country, have been also told to put up guard
after two South Korean television producers were
reportedly attacked by thieves in Johannesburg.
"Japanese are seen as easy targets for thieves," Hideyuki
Sakamoto, the minister at the Japanese embassy in
Pretoria, said at a media seminar before the Samurai's
training on Monday.
He said one Japanese was robbed of everything in Cape Town
on New Year's eve. "He really looked as if he was
saying,'Come and rob me.'"
His embassy will deploy a five-men "mobile unit" to help
Japanese in distress at every venue for Japan's matches
against Cameroon, the Netherlands and Denmark.
"They will be dressed in orange jackets. But don't mistake
them for the Dutch team."
Rooney raring to go for
England
AFP, Rustenburg
Wayne Rooney played down concerns over England's
lacklustre World Cup build-up and insisted he was raring
to go ahead of the opening group C clash with the United
States here on Saturday.
Fabio Capello's side have looked unconvincing in their
warm-up internationals against Mexico and Japan and that
impression was confirmed by another disjointed display in
the 3-0 win over South African Premier League side
Platinum Stars on Monday. England did however look much
sharper once Rooney came on as a second half substitute
and the Manchester United striker created his side's
second goal before claiming the third for himself.
"It was a good run-out, we needed to get the game in and
to play 45 minutes felt good so I was happy," Rooney said.
"I think we got out of it what we needed. I would have
liked to have got a bit more of a game but I was happy
with the 45 minutes.
"We are ready - these are preparation games for us for the
big one now coming up on Saturday. I just can't wait now.
The sooner it comes, the better."
Rooney's input into Monday's match came at a price with
the striker picking up a booking for dissent and generally
charging around in a manner which would have reminded many
England fans of his conduct in the 2006 quarter-final
against Portugal, in which he was sent off before England
lost out in a penalty shoot-out.
Team-mate Jermain Defoe however believes that Rooney
cannot completely shed his aggressive, competitive edge.
"When you've got that fire in your belly as a player can
be good," Defoe said. "If you take that away from Wayne,
then he won't be the same player."
Defoe backed Rooney's view that England are ready to
challenge at this World Cup, although he acknowledged they
were still adjusting to the 1500m-plus altitude of South
Africa's high veldt.
"It was a really good work out. With the conditions, the
altitude and the heat, it made it difficult, but it helped
with the fitness for what is ahead.
"You do notice the altitude here when you're running
around. It's different, and we're a lot higher here than
we were in Austria but I'm sure we'll get used to it in
training.
"I don't think we could be better prepared for a World
Cup. I think everything we've done - the training, the
fitness work - has been spot on.
"The hotel is brilliant. We've got everything we need, so
the preparation has been good and, if you prepare right,
you get results."
Defoe added: "Everyone's hungry. We want to win it. We'll
take each game as it comes, but I think we've got that
winning mentality.
"We're winning games and we want to take that into a
tournament now."
South African
‘hot shot’ Mphela warns Mexico
AFP,
Johannesburg
Lone South Africa striker Katlego Mphela promised on
Monday he would take his hot form into the opening World
Cup match against Mexico.
Mphela grabbed six goals for the host nation in five
warm-ups last month, including two each against
international football lightweights Thailand and
Guatemala.
But the star linked with English Premiership outfit
Birmingham City accepted goals would be much harder to
come by against rivals who completed an extensive build-up
by defeating World Cup holders Italy 2-1 in Brussels.
"I have watched the Mexicans against England, Netherlands
and Italy and they are good," noted the striker who came
to the fore during the dress rehearsal Confederations Cup
last June. "If I get a chance to score I will as the last
five matches have done wonders for my morale and that of
other players. We are ready for Mexico," he told
reporters.
"Our opponents can be sure of one thing - they are heading
for a tough 90 minutes," warned Mphela ahead of the Friday
afternoon opening match at Soccer City in the four-yearly
international football showpiece.
Mphela sprang to prominence by scoring twice against
winners Spain - including a brilliant free kick - in the
Confederations Cup third-place play-off.
But as Bafana Bafana ('The Boys' in isiZulu) went into an
eight-loss slump, Mphela also suffered as his predatory
skills vanished and confidence plummeted.
There was even talk of the physically formidable
25-year-old being sacrificed for Benni McCarthy, but the
West Ham striker could not match the fitness benchmark and
failed to make the final 23-man squad.
Coach Carlos Alberto Parreira has chosen two other
strikers, Bernard Parker from Dutch champions Twente and
veteran Siyabonga Nomvete from Soweto-based Moroka
Swallows, but looks set to continue with his 4-5-1 system.
South Africa held a training session on the edge of the
Johannesburg central business district and the biggest
cheers from several hundred supporters were reserved for
goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune and midfielder Steven Pienaar.
A mainly young, multi-racial crowd demonstrated how Bafana
have won the support of a nation normally divided along
colour lines with blacks following football and whites
rugby union and cricket.
Landis hires
LeMond lawyer
AFP, New York
Floyd Landis, who last month admitted doping throughout
his cycling career and accused Lance Armstrong and others,
has hired a law firm that once represented US cyclist Greg
LeMond, the New York Daily News reported.
Landis, formerly of US Postal and Phonak, caused a
sensation last month when he admitted to systematic doping
prior to being stripped of his Tour de France crown in
2006.
The American also accused seven-times Tour de France
champion Lance Armstrong, among other former teammates at
the now defunct US Postal team, and the team's manager
Johan Bruyneel, not only of doping but also conspiring
with an International Cycling Union official to have a
positive Armstrong test suppressed.
Armstrong and Bruyneel have categorically denied all the
accusations.
The newspaper cited "two people with knowledge of the
situation" as saying Landis has received a
"strongly-worded" letter from the office of Hein
Verbruggen, a former president of the UCI who was accused
by Landis of colluding to suppress a positive drug test
for Armstrong.
Pat McQuaid, who took over as president of the UCI in
2006, confirmed that the letter had been sent from UCI's
general counsel.
"They are asking him to cease and desist from making
statements he's made about Mr. Verbruggen in the past few
weeks because they are not true," McQuaid told The News on
Monday, according to a story posted on the newspaper's
website.
The Daily News said that Landis has hired the law firm of
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich and Rosati, a firm that
represented three-time Tour de France champion Greg LeMond
in various lawsuits, including a recent dispute with the
Trek Bicycling Corporation.
"He's our client," Mark Handfelt, a partner at the firm,
told the newspaper.
According to the newspaper, a team of lawyers from the
firm will advise Landis in the event he faces a criminal
case or defamation lawsuit.
Cape Town poor
accuse city of World Cup clean-up
AFP, Cape Town
Grim rows of grey metal shacks stretch out with military
precision in the barren sandy ground.
Residents call it Blikkiesdorp-"Tin Can Town" in
Afrikaans-a vast, soulless temporary camp for Cape Town's
homeless and evicted that has attracted a media spotlight
ahead of the football World Cup.
"This is basically like a concentration camp," said
Mohammed Ali, 38, who lives in the settlement with his
wife and two daughters.
Miles away from the upscale city's attractions that will
greet football fans, some residents accuse officials of
using Blikkiesdorp for a World Cup clean-up in a debate
that has unveiled South Africa's crushing poverty.
"They're moving people staying on the streets or staying
in shacks in the back of the yards. They're moving all
those people to this place for 2010. They're cleaning up
basically the roads," said Ali.
South Africa has poured billions into hosting Africa's
first football World Cup with new stadiums, transport
systems and a beefed up police force. But while children
gleefully undergo football training on a sandy patch near
a busy road, there is little sign in Blikkiesdorp of the
World Cup kick-off on June 11.
"Why didn't they use some of that money to build houses?"
asked community leader Beverley Jacobs, 42, who is
spending her third winter in one of the camp's
18-square-metre (190-square-foot) shacks.
Blikkiesdorp was set up as temporary emergency housing in
2008 and has grown to more than 1,500 structures with
electricity and communal toilets and water taps.
Priscilla Ludidi shares her shack with four children and
her 82-year-old mother, who sleeps on a piece of sponge on
the ground.
"All the structures that we're living in are leaking. We
are four families on one tap. We are four families on one
toilet, which is so unhygienic," said the 44-year-old.
"They promised us it's only three to six months until you
get your houses. They always lie."
South Africa struggles with chronic housing shortages
despite rolling out 2.3 million new houses since the end
of apartheid in 1994. But a growing backlog of 2.1 million
means 12 million people-nearly a quarter of the
population-still need homes. And the number of
shantytowns, known euphemistically as informal
settlements, has rocketed to more than 2,700 countrywide.
Cape Town-which has some of South Africa's priciest real
estate-has a housing backlog of 400,000 and 220 informal
settlements.
Former homeless couple Rina Mina Kiwido, 48, and James
Adams, 48, came to Blikkiesdorp last September via a
social worker, with a group of people from near the Cape
Town stadium.
They are aware of the claims of clean-ups to sanitise the
city for foreign visitors, but are still happy with the
move. "We are off the street," said Adams.
As foreign news crews flock to Blikkiesdorp to show a
disturbingly less glamorous Cape Town, officials deny that
the city is being stripped of its homeless.
"There's no clean up campaign that is happening," city
spokeswoman Kylie Hatton told AFP, saying it gets repeated
requests to move to the camp.
Rose, Fowler
fall short at US Open qualifier
AFP, Columbus
Justin Rose and Rickie Fowler came up short in their US
Open qualifying bids Monday, a day after Rose out-dueled
Fowler to win the US PGA Tour's Memorial.
Major champions Tom Lehman, Davis Love and Ben Curtis all
made the field for the 110th US Open, to be held at Pebble
Beach June 17-20.
Aussies Stuart Appleby and Aaron Baddeley were also among
the 15 qualifiers to advance from the 36-hole sectional
event at the Lakes and Brookside courses in Columbus.
Love punched his ticket in a six-player playoff for the
last five spots. He'll return to the US Open after seeing
his streak of 18 consecutive starts in the event end last
year.
Rocco Mediate, who battled with Tiger Woods but lost in a
playoff in the 2008 US Open at Torrey Pines, was
eliminated with a bogey on the third playoff hole.
For Rose the disappointment comes a day after he claimed
his first US PGA Tour title, to go with half a dozen prior
victories worldwide.
He charged from four shots back to win the Jack Nicklaus-hosted
Memorial at Muirfild Village in Dublin, Ohio, beating
Fowler, the 21-year-old rookie who had taken a three-shot
lead into the final round.
"Being in contention definitely wears you out quite a bit,
and this is my third week in a row playing," Fowler said.
"So I'm looking forward to some time off. It would have
been nice to be playing in the Open, but it happens."
Fowler rose to 32 in the world on Monday while Rose
reached number 33 in the world.
The deadline for earning a US Open spot through the world
ranking was two weeks ago because the USGA had to
determine how many spots would be available through the
qualifiers. Monday saw 13 sectional qualifiers around the
country to complete the 156-man field.
Most of the spots came from Columbus and Memphis,
Tennessee, where the US PGA Tour plays this week.
Lehman, the only player in the modern era to play in the
final pairing of four straight US Opens, said he felt
badly for Rose and Fowler and that he thought the strong
field at Columbus, the day after the Memorial, warranted
more berths at stake.
"You have the Memorial, so you have all the top players
here, from both Europe and the US," Lehman said. "Justin
Rose was here qualifying, Rickie Fowler is qualifying. I
just feel to have 15 spots here is a slap in the face. It
really is."
Three berths were on offer in Houston, where weather
delays pushed the conclusion to Tuesday.
The disruption prompted Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony
Romo to withdraw, because of commitments to his NFL team
the rest of the week.
In other qualifiers, India's Arjun Atwal was among seven
to book their spots in Rockville, Maryland.
South Africa's World Cup will be best ever: Blatter
AFP, Johannesburg
The World Cup which begins on Friday in South Africa is
going to be the best ever, FIFA president Sepp Blatter
said on Monday as he was honored with the country's
highest national order. "After the 12th of June everyone
will have an interest in Africa, because this is going to
be the best World Cup ever," said Blatter.
President Jacob Zuma bestowed the world football boss with
the Order of the Companion of OR Tambo, an accolade only
awarded to foreign nationals or heads of states in
appreciation of friendship and cooperation shown to the
country. Since the awarding of the World Cup in 2004,
Blatter has had to deflect doubts about South Africa's
ability to successfully host the tournament.
"I am overwhelmed with emotion, I can't say how much I am
touched by this honor. I take it for FIFA and the football
family and my own family," said Blatter after receiving
the award. He said bringing the World Cup to Africa has
always been his dream since he started working in the
continent.
"It started with a belief and now that belief is a
reality," said Blatter. Blatter added that the legacy of
the World Cup must go beyond the shiny new stadiums and
upgraded infrastructure. "Football gives you emotions and
hope, hope will give you trust and confidence," said
Blatter.
Adriano's mother
to be questioned over drug allegations
AFP, Rio de Janeiro
The mother of controversial Brazilian international
striker Adriano is to be questioned by police over
allegations of her son's financial dealings with local
drugs dealers local media reported on Monday.
The 28-year-old Adriano has left for Italy where he has
signed for AS Roma but according to daily newspaper 'O Dia'
Dona Rosilda is to be interrogated by the police over
discrepancies between Adriano's account to them and what
they have uncovered in the course of their investigation.
According to the police 48-times capped Adriano - who was
omitted from the Brazil squad for the World Cup finals
because of a lack of fitness and loss of form - withdrew
60,000 reais (35,000 dollars) from his account.
It is claimed he then handed it over to Fabiano Atanasio
da Silva known as 'FB', the head of the drugs cartel in
the favela of Vila Cruzeiro. Da Silva has been accused of
being involved in the shooting down of a police helicopter
on October 17, 2009, an incident which led to the death of
three police officers.
In October 2008 he was also accused of the murder of a
prison chief.
In his statement Adriano - who is set to play for his
fourth Italian club after spells with Inter Milan,
Fiorentina and Parma - claimed his mother had withdrawn
50,000 reais of which 30,000 was for a children's party in
the favela on October 12, 2009, and that the rest had been
spend on personal items for herself.
However, according to the police the money that they are
interested in was withdrawn between December 14 and 16
last year.
The police are also focussing on two photographs of
Adriano in which in one he is caught forming the initials
'CV' which stand for the criminal syndicate Comando
Vermelho of Rio, and in the other he is pictured
brandishing a rifle in a pose resembling that of a drugs
trafficker.
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