MONday, MARCH 1, 2010 FALGUN 17, 1416, RABIUL AWAL 14, 1431 Hijri

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Leading News

Eid-e-Miladunnabi observed
BSS, Dhaka

The holy Eid-e-Miladunnabi was observed in the country Saturday with religious fervour and due solemnity commemorating the birth of Great Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH) on this day in the month of Rabiul Awal 1,440 years ago with divine blessings for mankind.
Muslims across the country joined special prayers and staged colourful street processions to mark the day which is also the day of 'Ufat' (departure) of the Prophet (PBUH). Different religious, socio-political and cultural organizations drew up programmes in the capital and elsewhere in the country marking the day. The programmes included discussion meetings and milad mahfils.
The day was a public holiday. Bangladesh Television, Bangladesh Betar and private TV channels and radio stations aired programmes, while newspapers published special supplements highlighting the significance of the day. City roads were decorated with national flags and colourful festoons inscribed with 'Allahu Akbar' and 'Kalima'.
As part of its fortnight-long programme, the Islamic Foundation on Sunday organised seminar, Naat-e-Rasul and milad mahfil. Anjuman-e-Rahmania Moinia Maizbhandaria organised a grand mass prayer and colourful street march in the city marking the day.
Eminent spiritual personality, Alhaj Syed Moinuddin Ahmed Al Hasani Maizb-handari attended the programme as the chief and conducted a milad mahfil and special prayers at Purana Paltan Maidan in the morning.
Anjuman-e-Rahmania Moinia Maizbhandaria President Syed Saifuddin Ahmed Al-Hasani Wal Hossaini Maizbhandari presided over the function while Iranian Ambassador Hassan Farezande was present as the special guest. Eminent Islamic thinker Allama Nurul Islam and other Islamic scholars also spoke on the occasion.
The milad and doa mahfil was followed by a grand street procession through the city streets chanting slogans welcoming the emergence of Prophet Muhammad (SM) and seeking divine blessings for mankind.
Addressing the rally, Syed Moinuddin Ahmed Al Hasani Maizbhandari said the spirit of Miladunnabi goes against terrorism, militancy, conflicts and communal disharmony.
Islam is not the religion that permits killing of human beings for nothing, he said and called for loving mankind, shunning terrorism and militancy. Iranian envoy Farazandeh urged Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to unite the Muslims in Bangladesh. 

 PM assures of Peelkhana carnage trial
UNB, Dhaka

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Sunday firmly said that the trial of Peelkhana killings would see a successful finish the way the murder of father of the nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was tried.
"The trial of BDR killing has been started and let me assure you this will be completed," she said talking to family members of the martyred army officials when they met her at the Prime Minister's Office, as they just passed the first anniversary of the BDR carnage in tears.
At the meeting the annual cheques from Bangladesh Association of Bankers (BAB) were given to the dependants of the slain army officers who were in command of the border force and were all massacred in the February 25-26 mutiny inside the Peelkhana headquarters of Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) last year.
She again said that the provocateurs in the BDR killings along with the culprits who were involved in staging the carnage both would be brought to trial.
"The provocateurs will also be found out and tried," the Prime Minister told the members of the ruined families. She reassured that her government will be beside the martyred army officials' families.
"I will be beside you until my death," Hasina said, adding that she could realize the pains of losing kith and kin for the August 15, 1975 grim tragedy. "I also feel the pain as my kith and kin were killed on August 15."
Earlier, one-minute silence was observed for the deceased army officials.
In assistance with the Prime Minister Office and organized by the BAB, all families of the martyred army families will be given Tk 40,000 per month for the next 10 years for their upkeep.
Today Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina handed over the cheques for Tk 480,000 to each family for the second year.
Meanwhile, Tk 9 million to Tk 5 million has already been distributed among the family members of the army officials according to their ranks and tenures of service. Besides, pensions had been given to most of the families while the process of giving pensions to the rest six families is in the final stage. A total of 56 families were given placement shares of Trust Mutual Fund worth Tk 200,000 each.

 Govt should quit if it fails to run country properly: Khaleda
UNB, Dhaka

Bringing various charges against her political opponents, opposition leader and BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia said the govt should quit if it fails to run the country properly.
She made the remark when the parents of brilliant student of Dhaka University Abu Bakar Siddique, killed amid campus violence recently, met with her at her Gulshan office Saturday.
Talking to Abu Bakar's father Rustam Ali, mother Rabeya Begum and elder brother Abbas Ali, the former PM painted a grim picture of the country as she said the government "failed" in every sector.
"This government failed to bring down prices of essentials under people's purchasing capacity, control deteriorating law-and-order situation, generate employment, and meet demand for gas and electricity, resulting in aggravation of public sufferings," she said.
The leader of the opposition, whose party has long abstained from attending parliament sessions on different allegations, observed that the parliament is also not functioning well. She went on to claim that the government cannot run any sector in the right course.
"If the government can't run the country properly, it should step down from power," said the former premier, Khaleda Zia, who lost heavily the last polls held against the backdrop of a political topsy-turvy following a standoff between the two sides over election issues.
Khaleda alleged that the education system has collapsed in the wake of pro-government student organization's involvement in "terrorism, extortion, tender manipulation and admission trade". She lamented that the atmosphere of educational institutions has been destroyed, there is no security of students and teachers on the campuses following what she said 'violence, terrorism and misdeeds of the ruling party". And for this reason, she alleged, DU student Abu Bakar Siddiqi lost his life. Khaleda criticized "politicization" of the Dhaka University administration.
She also came down heavily on the government and DU administration for not providing due protocol to her as leader of the opposition, obstruction created by police and chaotic situation when she went to place floral wreath at the central Shaheed Minar at the first hour of February 21.

  EC not empowered to cancel registration of a religion-based party: CEC

UNB, Dhaka

Chief Election Commissioner Dr ATM Shamsul Huda said the Commission has no jurisdiction to cancel registration of a political party based on religion or banking on terrorism.
The CEC pleaded their powerlessness while pleas are loud for banning the political parties that do theocratic politics following the scrapping of the constitution fifth amendment and the spread of militancy.
Talking to reporters outside his office at the Election Commission, he said it is the government responsibility to cancel registration of a political party running beyond the registration rules.
"We act according to RPO (Representation of People Order). If any party violates RPO, we cancel that party's registration," he said, citing the cancellation of the Freedom Party's registration.
Asked about the timing of local-body elections, Dr Huda said Union Parishad elections will be held first and then the Dhaka City Corporation election, which has been long overdue with the result that essential service delivery to the city-dwellers slowed down.
About the election schedules, he said the Commission has not set the dates for announcing the schedules. Schedules are declared 45 days ahead of the elections.
According to the procedure, the CEC said, first draft voters' list would be published and then it would be finalized after settling objections against the draft list.

   Indian Air Force tests war readiness close to Pakistan border

Reuters, Pokhran

Fighter jets of the Indian Air Force (IAF) pounded mock enemy bunkers close to the Pakistan border on Sunday in a symbolic show of air power at a time when the two nuclear-armed rivals are trying to improve relations.
The exercise was watched by military attaches from about 30 countries but not Pakistan and China, neighbours who would be keen to take a look at India's military firepower. It follows the first official talks between India and Pakistan since the militant attacks in Mumbai in 2008.
The talks ended with an agreement to keep in touch, signalling relations remain fraught despite a desire to reopen a dialogue that India suspended after the Mumbai killings.
"This is not just a firepower demonstration but a clear message about what the Indian Air Force is capable of," said Uday Bhaskar, a New Delhi-based strategic affairs expert. "It is a message to the neighbours."
Tensions between India and Pakistan are a problem by themselves but the stakes have risen further with their roles in the war in Afghanistan. In Sunday's war games, planes including Sukhois and MiG 21s, roared through the sky, bombing simulated enemy targets including militant training camps and bunkers.
President Pratibha Patil and Defence Minister A.K. Antony watched as targets were hit with bombs and rockets, raising huge balls of fire and dust in the deserts of Pokhran, the site of India's nuclear testing facility.
Defence officials said the exercise would test the IAF's ability at precision bombing of militant camps, particularly those behind enemy lines. India accuses Pakistan of letting militant groups use its territory to train and launch attacks on India, such as the Mumbai raid that killed 166 people.

   Jaintapur border
BDR-BSF trade heavy gunfire

UNB, Sylhet

Border forces of Bangladesh and India traded heavy gunfire at Jaintapur border when Indian nationals backed by BSF trespassed for fishing on Sunday afternoon.
No report of casualty was available. Villagers fleeing from the border areas for fear of live said gunfire started at about 3pm continued till 6pm.
It was the fourth time in a month that the border skirmishes took place as Khasia tribe on the other side of the border in Meghalaya State deliberately crossed the border for fishing in Dibir Haor.
BSF on February 4 intruded in the area and kidnapped a Nayek of BDR. He was however set free at a flag meeting, BSF regretting their action of illegal crossing of the border.
BDR said Indian nationals backed by BSF crossed the border for fishing in Dibir Haor. On resistance by the fishermen BSF opened fire. BDR returned the fire and the gunrunning continued for about three hours until 6pm.
TBT Desk adds: Earlier on February 22, a group of Indian intruders with direct support of the BSF trespassed into Bangladesh territory on Bibirhaor border near Jayantapur in Sylhet, but went back in the face of strong protest by local people.
The trespassers entered two hundred yards into Bangladesh territory in between Pillar No. 1284 and 1285 and caught fishes from a pond. The Indian citizens numbering about 100 were backed by heavily armed BSF troops and their presence made the local people panicky. However the locals protested the intrusion strongly and ultimately all of the intruders returned to India with huge fishes caught from the pond.
The BSF personnel provided security to the Indian trespassers. The place of incident is quite away form the BDR camp at Jayantapur.

   Two more killed in ‘shootout’
TBT Report

Two more alleged dacoits were killed in 'shootout' between their cohorts and Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) at Monurbagh in Dakkhin Keraniganj early Sunday taking the total of such extra judicial killings to 104 in seven months from August 1, 2009 to February 28, 2010.
With these two, 12 extra judicial killings took place in the new year 2010. Earlier, an outlawed party leader, a ringleader of a robber gang, a criminal, an outlawed party leader, a terrorist, a alleged outlawed party leader, a ring leader and two terrorists were killed in shootouts on 9, 11, 12, 30 January and 10, 16, 19, 23 and 25 February respectively.
According to UNB News Agency, two alleged dacoits were killed in a 'shootout' between their cohorts and RAB at Monurbagh in Dakkhin Keraniganj early Sunday. The deceased were identified as Kana Pappu, 25, and Abdus Sattar, 25, accomplices of infamous 'Shahid Bahini'. They used to collect tolls from the area in the name of Shahid, locals said.
Pappu and Sattar were caught in the line of fire and died on the spot. However, other robbers managed to flee the scene. The RAB also recovered two foreign-made pistols, 12 rounds of bullet and five hand bombs from the spot.

Back Page

Chile quake death toll exceeds 300, tsunami threats across Pacific

Xinhua, Santiago

More than 300 people have been killed in Chile after a 8.8-magnitude megaquake hit the country on Saturday, the national emergency office said.
The office had said earlier on Saturday that the death toll was 214.
MASSIVE DAMAGE
The quake, one of the world's most powerful in decades, rocked Chile at 3:34 a.m. local time (0634 GMT) on Saturday, knocking down homes and hospitals and triggering a tsunami that rolled menacingly across the Pacific.
The epicenter was only 115 km from Concepcion, Chile's second largest city with a population of 670,000.
The earthquake was felt in Concepcion, Santiago, Rancagua, Talca, Temuco, Valdivia, Valparaiso, Montt Port, Vicuna, La Serena, Capiapo and Calama.
According to Sergio Barri-entos, science chief of the Seismology Institute of the University of Chile, the quake was 50 times bigger than the Haiti quake on Jan. 12.
Chilean Interior Minister Edmundo Perez Yoma said Saturday's earthquake was a cataclysm of historical dimensions. "Since 1960 we have never had an earthquake like this." But he expected to normalize the country in the coming 48 or 72 hours. The national emergency office said there are some 400,000 victims in Biobio, one of the most affected areas.
Meanwhile, the airport of Santiago has been closed due to structural problems in its main building, and is expected to be habilitated in 48 hours. In many municipalities in the Metropolitan Region of Santiago, the electricity supply was interrupted.
Between the regions of Valparaiso and Araucania, in a range of some 800 km, water supply, sewage systems and telephone services have been disrupted in many zones. After the major earthquake, at least 25 aftershocks ranging from 5 to 6.9 magnitudes on the Richter scale have been registered.
To the moment, 22 people have been reportedly rescued alive, while millions of others are believed affected by the massive quake.
Chilean President Michelle Bachelet has sent three rescue teams to the affected areas, while declaring many parts of the country as catastrophe zones and calling on residents to remain calm.
TSUNAMI THREATS ACROSS PACIFIC
Countries and regions across the Pacific are on high alert against a tsunami triggered by the earthquake.
The first wave of the tsunami hit Japan's outlying islands at around 12:48 a.m. local time (0348 GMT) Sunday. But the initial waves were just 10 cm high.
The waves first hit Ogas-awara islands off Japan's main island. The Japan Meteorological Agency predicted it will soon reach other parts of the Pacific coastline of the country. Local governments has urged households in northeast Japan to evacuate, where the waves are expected to be more than 3 meters high. Transportation on many lines of the railway system has also been suspended due to the tsunami. The Malaysian Meteorological Department said Sunday that those staying at the coastal areas of southern Sabah are advised to stay away from the beaches as there are likely rough sea conditions on Sunday. According to a statement issued by the Malaysian Meteor-ological Department, the Chilean earthquake had triggered tsunami waves across the Pacific Ocean, affecting countries and regions such as Mexico, New Zealand, Tahiti, Hawaii, Tonga and Samoa Islands.
The Philippines has raised the tsunami alert to Level 2, the Philippine Institute of Volcano-logy and Seismology (Phivolcs) said on Sunday. Residents in 19 provinces facing the Pacific in the Philippines have been urged to move to higher grounds, as the tsunami is expected within hours.

   Curtain falls on Ekushey Book Fair
UNB, Dhaka

Curtain fell on the month-long Ekushey Book Fair, the largest book fair in the country, on Sunday with gathering of thousands of book lover on the fair premises.
The book lovers who crowded the Bangla Acad-emy premises throughout the day were seen busy browsing books for the last moment or having a look on the new arrivals. Bangla Academy and the Bangladesh Book Publishers and Sellers' Association jointly organized the month-long annual event marking the Language Movement in 1952.
Bangla Academy sources said this year's total sale in the fair was about Tk 20 crore while Bangla Academy alone sold books worth over Tk 65 lakh. Some 3,354 new books unveiled in the fair this year. The new titles unveiled this year, include 807 poetry collections, 581 novels, 378 stories, 255 articles, 129 children's books, 110 books liberation war and 87 on research.
This year, the fair was divided into four zones-commercial publishing houses, children's books, publications of socio-cultural organisations, NGOs and other organisations.
A number of innovative programmes include discussions and cultural programmes focusing on the literary personalities of the 20th century were held every day. The academy also set up a writers' corner.
The Liberation War Museum (LWM), Dhaka at a stall displayed several books and photo albums on the Liberation War. The museum encourages preservation of Liberation War memorabilia. The Bangla Academy authorities have given "Chitta Ranjan Memorial Award" to Bipul Prakash, Suborna and Pathak Samaabesh for best books.
Besides, "Sardar Joynuddin Memorial Award" was given to three stalls for their eye catching and artistic decorations. The stalls are Toitumbur, Katha Prakash and Mawla Brothers. Nazrul Islam and Dr Fatema Anis have been awarded with "Palan Sarkar Award" for purchasing highest number of books.

   Govt couldn’t yet formulate PPP guidelines due to bureaucratic apathy: Muhith

UNB, Dhaka

Finance Minister AMA Muhith on Sunday said the government could not yet formulate the guidelines for the public private partnership (PPP) due to bureaucratic apathy.
"They (bureaucrats) are not in favor of change. That's why the pace of formulating the guideline is slow." He made the comment when the newly elected executive members of the Economic Reporters Forum (ERF) called on the Finance Minister at his Secretariat office.
Muhith said he is expecting some investment under the PPP in power and transportation sector within a short time. The stimulus package would continue in the future with some minor changes in it, he said, adding that "of the total Tk 5000 crore this year, we've already pledged Tk 3500 crore."
But the Finance Minister criticized the private sector for their heavy dependence on the government. "They are getting too much protection from the government," he said. He said that although the private sector has expanded a lot in the country, they often come to the government seeking many facilities.
In this regard, he mentioned that the BGMEA and the garment exporters did not pay anything to the government. "…they also get incentives from the government. But this sector is one of the largest private sector in the country," he said.
Muhith said that although he mentioned it in the budget, it would not be possible for district-wise budget this fiscal year. "For this, all districts would have to announce their budget at the end of July of a fiscal year. But this practice is yet to start in our country. That's why it won't be possible this year."
He mentioned that there will be two revised budget this year - one in March and another in June. By this, wastage of money will be stopped and transparency in spending the public money will be ensured, the Finance Minister said.
In this connection, he said normally, the government goes for new construction of roads in the country.
"But priority should be given to the maintenance first, then repair and lastly the new constructions." Muhith said the government is continuing the digitization process very fast and it is going on beyond the expectation.

   Section 144 withdrawn from Khagrachhari municipality area  

UNB, Khagrachhari

District administration Sunday withdrew section 144 from the municipality area which was imposed for an indefinite period due to outbreak of violence in the hill district.
Deputy Commissioner M Abdullah said the ban was withdrawn at 12 noon as normalcy started to get back in the district town.
One Bangalee settler, Anwar Hossain, 28, was killed, over 30 others were wounded and at least 50 houses burnt in arson attacks in seven localities in the district town in sporadic clashes Tuesday, prompting the authorities to slap overnight curfew.
The district administration also imposed ban under section 144 on gathering in the entire area of Sadar upazila at 2pm Tuesday for an indefinite period to avert further outbreak of clashes.
Several days' clashes and arson attacks left at least three people dead, scores injured and many homes looted and burnt in Khagrachhari and Rangamati hill districts following a land dispute between Bangalee settlers and indigenous people.
The tribal-Bangalee deadly violence first flared up at Baghaichhari upazila in Rangamati district last Saturday over land dispute that left two tribal people killed and 15 others injured.

    Tripura minister favours imports from BD
UNB, Feni

Commerce & Industries Minister of India state of Tripura Jitendra Chowdhury has appreciated the quality of Bangladeshi goods and favoured large-scale imports through the land ports to meet the requirement of seven northeast states.
Speaking at a view-exchange meeting at the Circuit House with members of the Feni Chambers of Commerce and Industry Suday stressed the need for development o infrastructure connecting the land ports on both sides of the border.
People of the seven sisters including Tripura are convinced about the quality of Bangladeshi products. Increased trade between Bangladesh and the seven sisters will equally help both the countries.
Jitendra Chowdhury left for home through the Belonia land port concluding four-day visit to Bangladesh.
Talking to UNB he said his visit can be billed as the step toward much desired transit facility through Bangladesh.
Asked about the allegation of India's promoting smuggle of dangerous drugs like phensidyl to Bangladesh the Tripura minister admitted the phensidyl pushed into Bangladesh is 'fake and poisonous'. He said barely 2 percent of the phensidyl is produced legally by authorized factories.

    Paban planned blasts outside Khaleda’s office: DMP Commissioner
BNP calls it a blame game

UNB, Dhaka

City police boss AKM Shahidul Huq disclosed that BNP secretary-general Khandaker Delwar Hossain's son, Paban, had planned the blasts outside BNP chairperson and opposition leader Khaleda Zia's Gulshan office on February 23.
Paban, now absconding, is accused in some criminal cases of the past. He was arrested amid a massive anticrime drive during the past military-backed caretaker government's rule.
Briefing reporters at the DB Headquarters on Sunday noon, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Commissioner said Khan-daker Abdul Hamid Paban's arrested friend, Shovan, confessed to the detectives that Paban went to his Kalabagan house on the evening of February 23 and later both went to Khaleda's Gulshan office riding a red-colour car.
Quoting Shovan's statement, the police commissioner said Paban got down from the car in front of the Gulshan office while Shovan was sitting in the driving seat.
At this point of time two crackers were exploded with big bangs and two young people got into Shovan's car parked near the Gulshan office and left the scene. The two youths later got down from the car at Bijoy Sarani.
Meanwhile, BNP senior joint secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Sunday described it's part of culture that Khandaker Delwar's son and his friend are accused of bomb blast in front of Khaleda Zia's Gulshan office and refuted the allegation.
"Our political culture is like this. If anything happens we blame each other," Fakhrul told reporters at the party's Nayapaltan central office replying to a question on government allegation.
He said investigation is going on into the bomb incident and hoped that real culprit would be exposed. But the people are in doubt about the investigation.
Regarding Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's statement about enhanced security steps for leader of the opposition Khaleda Zia, he said BNP and people will be happy if the government provides SSF coverage for her.
On AL general secretary Syed Ashraful Islam's remarks that SSF coverage of the opposition leader was withdrawn while BNP was in power, Fakhrul said it was a lame excuse. The situation was quite different at that time. "We are worried in the context of prevailing situation."

Editorial

Acute water crisis

The supply of inadequate and unsafe water is one of the major problems facing the city dwellers since long. But WASA is unable or insincere to resolve this problem. An agency report published in newspapers on February 27 said, residents in many areas of the city are getting water fouled with filth and stench from the Dhaka WASA supply lines for the last few weeks, making their lives miserable. The situation has deteriorated for the last two weeks in several areas of the city, including Moghbazar, Naya Paltan, Sheorapara and Mirpur. The residents in these areas complained that the WASA water they get is blackish and stinky, not suitable for human consumption, and poses serious health hazard.
Residents said that the water supplied by the WASA is not at all usable. We have to buy bottled water for drinking, which has increased our cost of living. The WASA water is so filthy, having bad smell, that we cannot bathe and do other household works with such water. The situation has worsened as the water cannot be used even for cooking. We are getting dirty water with bad odour through the WASA pipeline for several months. The city dwellers alleged that the WASA authorities did not take any action to resolve the problem.
The water crisis is continuing in the capital as the WASA water supply falls huge short of the needs. The city gets supply of at best 2000 million liters of water per day as against the need for around 2500 million liters , thus the shortfall of water supply stands at 500 million liters. The shortfall is attributed to deficiency in production, system loss, theft, wastage and misuse of water. And people are suffering terribly due to water shortage. In fact, in the capital Dhaka, only 45 percent of the dwellers have access to safe drinking water. In other words most of the city dwellers do not get adequate water while in some areas WASA water is fetid and full of dirt and worms due to merging of water pipes with sewerage lines at places. As a result of mixing up of dirt and sweepings from sewerage lines with water of WASA pipes the water has become contaminated and unusable.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina told the Parliament on February 17 that water supply in the city will be increased by 67.5 crore liters within 2014 after completion of two more water treatment plants. She said, Saidabad Water Treatment Plant (phase-2) with the capacity of supplying 22.50 crore liters of water will be completed by June 2012. Sheikh Hasina said construction of Pagla/ Keraniganj water treatment plant having the capacity of supplying 45 crore liters of water will be finished by June, 2014. Saidabad water treatment plant will treat water from the Shitlakkya river and Pagla/Keraniganj plant will treat water from the Padma River.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh Water Development Board ( WDB) has taken up an initiative to give a new lease of life to the rivers of Buriganga, Turag, Balu and Shitalakkhya by supplying water from the Jamuna river."To this end, the Water Resources Ministry would start work for supplying fresh Jamuna water to the Buriganga within this year by withdrawing its polluted water," Chief Planner of the WDB Engineer said on Thursday.
The government is speaking of various projects to resolve these crises, but implementation of those will need a few years while the crises are already acute and require immediate solution. So, the government should workout some plans for immediate execution for resolving the nagging water crises. It is time for the government to step up the efforts to resolve the water crisis and to that end the power crisis should also be resolved.

  Revitalizing health sector

A national daily on Saturday depicted a grim picture of the country's health services. It said, public health services across the country are being severely hampered by a staggering shortage of health professionals. There are currently 33,000 vacant posts, which is more than a fifth of the total workforce. The Health Bulletin 2009, published by the Health Ministry revealed that 7,090 posts of Class I employees, including 6,861 doctors and 229 non-doctors remain vacant. There are also 345 Class II positions vacant, 16,707 Class III positions vacant and 6,101 Class IV posts vacant. The total number of posts in the health sector is 173,000. Government sources expressed doubt that health services could be rendered smoothly with so many posts being vacant.
It is an open secret that besides manpower shortage, our health services are gripped by anomalies, irregularities and corruption. The health services are run at the expense of the people, but most of them do not get the much required service in times of need. Almost all public hospitals are plunged in mismanagement and anomalies. The patients hardly get proper medical treatment in these hospitals as in many cases medicines meant for the patients are smuggled out and the doctors and nurses seldom pay enough attention to the ailing people.
However, the way the public hospitals and health centres are running and the patients being treated and even denied medical care cannot be acceptable under any circumstances. It is the constitutional obligation of the government to provide health service and medical care for the citizens. So, the government should fill up the vacancies in the health services and revitalize the health sector.

Analysis

Resumption of talks

They agreed to remain in touch, and Bashir invited his Indian counterpart to visit Islamabad. The talks covered all the issues outstanding between the two countries.

Shahid M. Amin

The two foreign secretaries, Salman Bashir from Pakistan and Nirupama Rao from India, finally met in New Delhi on Feb 25 and described their talks as useful. Rao said there had been good chemistry and transparency on both sides.
They agreed to remain in touch, and Bashir invited his Indian counterpart to visit Islamabad. The talks covered all the issues outstanding between the two countries.
What was striking, though, was the level of scepticism and pessimism expressed in Pakistan about the utility of holding talks with India at this time. There were those who were sure that India would not be willing to discuss anything other than terrorism - more precisely, its insistence for the past many months that those Pakistani nationals who were allegedly involved in planning and executing the November 2008 Mumbai terrorist incident must be punished and "the networks of terrorism in Pakistan be dismantled".
India has been particularly angered that Hafiz Saeed, head of the banned Jamaatud Dawa considered a cover group for the Lashkar-i-Taiba (LeT) that allegedly masterminded the Mumbai attack, remains a free man and recently made an incendiary statement against India. True enough, this was the main issue raised by Rao; but it was clear all along that once the talks took place, there was little that India could do to stop Pakistan from raising any other issue, including Kashmir.
Initially, the Pakistan Foreign Office did not help matters by insisting that India must agree to resume the 'composite dialogue' that was broken off after the Mumbai attack. Some officials also called for an 'integrated' dialogue. They missed the point: the resumption of talks was the real thing and all else was quibbling over words. The very fact that it was India that took the initiative for the resumption of talks signalled a rethink by New Delhi and a reversal of its own intransigent stance for more than a year.
There has, no doubt, been foreign pressure on India to resume dialogue with Pakistan; but it is more likely that the decision to hold talks was taken by New Delhi itself, on a re-evaluation of its interests.
The fact is that Islamist militant groups have become an even greater menace for Pakistan than for India; as Bashir said, Pakistan "has suffered many more Mumbais" than India. This realisation may well have influenced India to resume talks with Pakistan; India cannot go on looking at the issue of militancy through the prism of the past.
The ISI might have been supportive of the LeT and other jihadi groups in the past but today, religious extremists and terrorist outfits have become the main security threat to the Pakistani state, government and society. Since last year, Pakistan's armed forces have been engaged in a war with militants in Swat, South Waziristan and elsewhere. It is clear, therefore, that Pakistan and India have a common enemy in these militants.
Of course, India is not alone in looking at issues through the prism of the past. Many in Pakistan harp on about the fact that the Afghan Mujahideen and Osama bin Laden were once fully supported by the US, during the Soviet military occupation of Afghanistan. They ask why the US now regards them as enemies.
The answer, obviously, is that circumstances change. In the 1980s, the Mujahideen and the US drew close to each other because of their common opposition to the Soviets in Afghanistan. Once the Soviets left, the common cause was gone.
While one can understand the outrage in India over the Mumbai incident, New Delhi's reaction has been disproportionate and even misplaced. India itself conceded that no official agency in Pakistan had been involved in the Mumbai incident. While one of the terrorists, who was captured alive, is a Pakistani national and has confirmed that the LeT organised the attack, it was always clear that there had to be some Indian involvement as well.
Putting all the blame on the Pakistani government was irrational, since it cannot be held accountable for all the wrongs done by its nationals. To use an analogy, most of those involved in 9/11 were Saudi nationals but the US has never made this an issue against the Saudi government. India has also been mistaken in allowing the terrorists to derail the Indo-Pakistan peace talks, in effect giving to the terrorists a veto over the destinies of millions.
At the same time, Pakistani authorities need to be much more active in punishing Pakistani accomplices of the Mumbai incident. In this context Interior Minister Rehman Malik has been guilty of too much talk and too little action. Some sections of our media have also done a disservice by putting the interests of a handful of militants over the interests of the country. These terrorists deserve no defence or sympathy for their unlawful activities.
It is unfortunate that both in India and Pakistan, there are hate lobbies that continue to oppose any forward movement in Indo-Pakistan relations. They build on fears and concocted evidence to build up an atmosphere of deep distrust; more than 60 years have already been lost in the process. There have, no doubt, been fundamental problems such as Kashmir that have defied a solution. But fears in Pakistan about India blocking the rivers, which might lead to war, also appear highly exaggerated.
Our Indus Waters commissioner, Jamaat Ali Shah, and an ex-finance minister, Dr Mubashar Hasan, have said only recently that the shortage of waters in our rivers is due to climatic conditions and not because of any theft by India.
Finally, this question has to be posed to the sceptics: how exactly are the differences between the two sides to be resolved? One option is confrontation, but this would lead to nuclear war and destruction. Since that does not make sense, there is no other option but holding talks. They may be long and frustrating but eventually, the advantages of peace and cooperation will compel the two countries to come to terms with each other.

  Count the numbers when the numbers begin to count

The prime minister and finance minister know that their government is safe because while the opposition may threaten it with a sequence of actions, it is not yet ready for the consequence, a general election.

MJ Akbar

Those who began counting the number of MPs left inside the Lok Sabha (the lower house of Indian Parliament) when Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee finished his budget speech before empty opposition benches have a weak memory.
They forgot where Pranab Mukherjee and Manmohan Singh, the two men who run this government, learned their ABC. Pranab Mukherjee had a headmistress called Indira Gandhi. Manmohan Singh went to the more complicated seminary presided over by P.V. Narasimha Rao.
To clear any residual confusion, the prime minister is a politician of the more subtle kind. He was less of a politician when he was Rao's finance minister, which is why he would get exasperated and at least once sent in his resignation (which Rao ignored). He has now learned to make the pace of power an ally rather than an adversary.
For the record, during the last phase of the budget speech, the government had only 274 MPs on its side, which is as bare a majority as is possible to have. Mukherjee finished his speech without a tremor, and Manmohan Singh sat unperturbed on his front-bench seat.
They had learned at primary school that governments do not fall because of numbers, they fall when they become uncertain or indecisive or provocative. Mukherjee was a Cabinet minister when Indira Gandhi ran her government for over two years without a majority in the House. Singh was finance minister of a minority government for at least three budgets; in fact, Rao began to wobble only after he purchased a majority in the House. Perhaps this was the moment when Manmohan transited from bureaucrat to politician; survival in office became more important than the means by which he and his prime minister survived.
The prime minister and finance minister know that their government is safe because while the opposition may threaten it with a sequence of actions, it is not yet ready for the consequence, a general election. Not a single opposition party, apart perhaps from Mayawati's BSP or possibly Jayalalitha's AIADMK, would gain from an election, and some will certainly be whittled further. It is not just the government that knows this; opposition parties do as well. And yet the walkout by all opposition parties on Friday was neither insignificant nor meaningless.
For starters, it was not spontaneous. It could not have been premeditated since no one knew that the finance minister would send out a cordial invitation to a few bulls while sitting in a china shop packed with price-rise cutlery. But the joint action was indicative of an unspoken understanding that has been building among opposition parties. This has developed out of a pragmatic assessment of predicament. The last election results were a clear signal that if the Congress is not checked, it will swallow up most of their space, and do so without even an ungainly burp. Ideology, therefore, has to make way for strategy. The Marxists cannot block the Congress in Madhya Pradesh; and the BJP cannot challenge the Congress in Bengal or Kerala. But it is in their common interest to keep the Congress down to what might be called manageable numbers in Parliament. This thought cannot have escaped some of the allies of the Congress in the government.
Much as Mamata Banerjee may want to destroy the Marxists, she will not play second fiddle to Congress in the process. Some Congressmen are whispering about a privately-commissioned opinion poll that suggests Congress would win if it fought alone in Bengal. If such whispers reach Banerjee, expect a circuitous response.
In politics, the surest way to break your leg is to try and win the Olympic gold in either the long jump or high jump. The only way to move forward is step by gingerly step. Paradoxically, the absence of a clear horizon might actually help such a gradualist approach; you take the journey one milestone at a time and then wait to see if anything cogent is visible on the horizon.
The first bit is always floor management in Parliament. If the opposition parties can find some issue that enables them to rise above their differences, then the very act of unity raises that concern into a national issue. Moreover, if there is no unity on prices then opposition as a concept has collapsed beyond repair.
The second stage will be much harder, of course, because there are more contradictions in opposition than there are in UPA. But the next round of assembly elections will be helpful in clearing opposition space. We will know, for instance, whether Lalu Yadav can dent Nitish Kumar, or whether the latter's eminence will move up to pre-eminence. Similarly, in Uttar Pradesh either Mayawati or Mulayam Singh Yadav will prevail. Beyond that, events and circumstances will determine who does what.
Long before the end game, there comes a midpoint. The numbers that matter are those that count at the end, not at the start or the middle.


M.J. Akbar is editor of The Sunday Guardian, published from Delhi,
and India on Sunday, published from London.

  Stop Evicting Palestinians from Jerusalem

A critical stage has been reached, with the government-encouraged status quo showing up as disaster in the making, as much for Israel as for Palestine.

James Carroll

As on every Friday for months now, several hundred Israelis gather here in Sheikh Jarrah, a neighbourhood in Arab East Jerusalem, to stand in vigil as a protest against the eviction of Palestinian families from homes they have lived in for decades.
In August, seven families-about 50 people, including 35 children-were forced out of their homes, and immediately replaced by eight families of Jewish Israelis, members of extremist settler groups.
The Palestinians have been living in tents across the street from their house ever since. Six other nearby families have received eviction notices.
I spoke with one of the evicted fathers, Fouad Ghawi, who had lived in the house since 1954, when he was 8. He and his family were Palestinian refugees from Jaffa during the 1948 war, and his father traded in his UN refugee card, which guaranteed him basic support, for the right to move into the house the UN Relief and Works Agency and Jordan were building on vacant land. In return for finishing the house, the Ghwai family would get the legal deed. Three generations of the Ghawi family had lived there ever since-until last August, when an Israeli court ordered them out. They had no deed because, he told me, "the Jordan government would not put it in our name until we had proper plumbing, and then the 1967 war broke out.'' Jordan's authority ended.
One of the organisers of the protest vigil, Zvi Benninga, a 24-year-old Israeli medical student and Jerusalemite, told me, "It is so blatant because they were expelled for a second time by Israel-first in 1948, and now again.'' The protest engages several critical issues. The government evictions depend on cloudy questions of pre-1948 ownership rights which, in most of Israel, have been simply deleted. Equivalent enforcement of "absentee property'' laws elsewhere in Israel would lead to evictions of tens of thousands of Jewish Israelis.
The evictions also raise the larger question of Israel's "creeping annexation'' of East Jerusalem, not only through the expansion of settlements, which Benjamin Netanyahu, defying President Obama, refuses to freeze, but also through legally dubious removal of Palestinians from other Jerusalem neighborhoods like Silwan, just down the slope from the old city.
That other key Arab neighbourhoods, like Abu Dis, have been cut off from Jerusalem by the so-called "security barrier'' points to the even larger question - whether, as far as the current Israeli government is concerned, the hard-won consensus that the promised Palestinian state would have its capital in East Jerusalem no longer applies. "This will stop any peace agreement,'' Benninga told me.
The weekly demonstrations are being led by younger Israelis, although veterans of the Israeli peace camp have shown up, too - including prominent figures like the novelist David Grossman, the philosopher Moshe Halbertal, and the literary critic Sidra DeKoven Ezrahi. "J Street,'' the American Jewish lobbying group, has sent a petition of support signed by 10,000 Americans. Today, Avrum Burg, the former speaker of the Israeli Knesset, is here to support the evicted families. When I asked him what the vigil meant, he said, "This is an iconic group. Intellectuals, blue collar people, Jews, Arabs, old, young-representing thousands of people. This is a permanent reality.''
Untie this knot in the nearly hopeless Israeli-Palestinian tangle and many others could be untied as well. The demonstrators are not interested in being valourised as champions of a vibrant Israeli democracy. Instead, they look to be bolstered by the broader world against the once-marginal figures who have more and more power in Israel. (The foreign ministry is headed by the far-right Avigdor Lieberman. This week, his deputy snubbed five US congressmen, including William Delahunt of Massachusetts, while Tzipi Livni, the opposition leader, warned "The Jewish state has been taken hostage by the ultra-orthodox parties.'')
A critical stage has been reached, with the government-encouraged status quo showing up as disaster in the making, as much for Israel as for Palestine.
Jamalat Ghawi, a mother of four, told me from her place in the ad hoc tent across the street from her house, "I feel frustration and anger, and worry for my children. They dream of their house at night. They are terrified. They have no idea where they are going." Today, they are not alone.


James Carroll's column appears in the Boston Globe© IHT

Viewpoints

Public relationing

Since Mr Zardari, like most politicians, does not believe in what he says, he was surprised that Mr Sharif did.

Zafar Hilaly 

The impending revolution that we all await is how to make the bureaucracy, this vast and lugubrious machine, the servant of the public and user-friendly.
Mr Nawaz Sharif's hurt and anger at being let down by Mr Zardari is evident nowadays. Since Mr Zardari, like most politicians, does not believe in what he says, he was surprised that Mr Sharif did. Mr Sharif should have known better. A politician, like an acrobat, keeps his balance by saying the opposite of what he does, just like Mr Sharif did when in power.
Now and then, of course, one comes across a politician who is so beguiling, so plausible, so much a rose without a thorn that he takes everyone for a ride which, Mr Sharif wants us to believe, is why he was misled by Mr Zardari. But no one really buys this explanation. They know that Mr Zardari is no Hitler.
There is so much feigned and injured innocence about nowadays that even the Taliban are getting into the act following the arrests of their leaders in Pakistan. But no one is fooled. We know that man is the only animal that can remain on friendly terms with the victims he wants to eat until he eats them. Even as Mr Sharif's parliamentarians were unanimously electing Mr Zardari the president, one sensed that they were silently baying for his blood.
Alas, two-timing is not the monopoly of politicians, even the obscenely poor vote repeatedly for the mind-boggling rich, notwithstanding irrefutable evidence that the latter prosper at their cost and then yell that they have been duped. Actually, rich or poor, educated or not, all suffer from such failings. It is human nature or, in the words of a Beatles song, all about "waiting at the window, wearing the face that one keeps in a jar by the door".
The military, which after its years in politics qualifies as a political entity as much as a fighting arm of the state, has cleverly grasped the importance of pandering to human nature and has assigned a competent general to manage its image. His job is to develop public support for its operations. This he does effectively, of course, dissembling now and then, but that is a part of the craft of public relations.
The judiciary has also embraced this view. Justice, it believes, must not only be done and seen to be done, but appropriately explained and projected so that kudos can accrue. Good judgements are not enough; goodwill also counts. All very different from the old motto: "Let justice be done even if the world has to perish."
It is only the floundering bureaucracy that has ignored the importance of good public relations, which is one reason why we have reached a stage where being called a 'clerk' unlike being called a 'soldier' or 'judge', though not a 'politician', is likened to abuse. The condescension and contempt the term 'clerk' conveys is galling. And as a former 'clerk', I have often wondered why the bureaucracy has never bothered to try and fix its image like the other arms of the state.
The appointment of an ombudsman seemed to be a move in this direction, but because the appointees were more frequently judges and bankers taking bureaucrats to task, it hardly helped. Besides, the idea emanated from a military ruler, hence we could scarcely take the credit for making amends for the loss, pain and suffering caused to the public on account of the negligence and laziness of fellow clerks.
The success or failure of a government's policy depends to a large extent on the performance of the bureaucracy. 'How to do it', i.e. how to implement the government policy, is in the hands of the clerks; unfortunately they end up demonstrating 'how not to do it'. A British MP once described the British civil service "as a beautifully designed and effective braking mechanism", although it was created to achieve precisely the opposite result.
The impending revolution that we all await is how to make the bureaucracy, this vast and lugubrious machine, the servant of the public and user-friendly. That, surely, must be the foremost priority for any regime that wishes to be re-elected and for the clerks who work in it to be respected. But, remarkably, it is not on the agenda of either.
Commissions to reform the bureaucracy have been aplenty. The foreign office has had retired luminaries spending months churning out voluminous reports, to no avail. One of these reports was in such turgid prose that if reduced to tablet form and bottled, it would have rivalled Valium as a sleeping potion. Another, no doubt a masterpiece, never saw the light of day, because when the author took a month's break from his labour, he forgot, while leaving office, to turn off the AC, which subsequently caused a fire, reducing his endeavours to ashes.
Apparently, a fresh report on improving the performance of the civil services has been completed and is awaiting implementation or 'consideration' of the government. If the former is the case, we should see some action in a century or so but if the latter, then perhaps in the next millennium.
While the new report is being considered, the one step that every department can take to speed up the process of decision making and thereby gain a measure of public goodwill would be to ensure that an 'actionable' letter or a file that 'moves' from one office or desk to another keeps 'moving' and does not come to rest in some cupboard or drawer.
A simple means of avoiding this fate, I once ventured to tell the top 'clerk' of Pakistan, would be not to have any cupboards or drawers in an office. I proceeded in this 'revolutionary' vein a while longer. My respected senior colleague heard me out, mouth agape, and left without saying a word. But his expression was unforgettable. "We are all born mad. Some remain so," was what it conveyed.
Perhaps a more sensible measure that would greatly enhance efficiency and improve image, as I discovered, was for the head of the department to inform the public that those visiting to meet an official of the department should not wait more than five minutes and, thereafter, without so much as 'by your leave', walk into the office of the department head. In all the years I served as the 'head clerk' in different sub-offices of the foreign office, only once after this notice was prominently displayed at the entrance door did I have cause to upbraid a junior colleague for failing to adhere to it. The threat of an adverse entry in an officer's performance report focuses his mind like nothing else.
Whatever the steps that the government and the bureaucracy finally embark on to improve their image, they would do well to remember that an inefficient and listless bureaucracy that cares nothing for its image is like corruption, as killing to a regime's prospects as the canker to a rose.


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

  Ahmadinejad Bucks Clergy

For now, it's a three-way struggle for the future of freedom, faith, ?and internationalism.

Jamsheed K. Choksy   

Even as hundreds of thousands gathered across Iran to mark the 31st anniversary of the Islamic Republic, it's worth noting that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad isn't the religious fanatic he is portrayed as in the West.
In fact, in a country where overt allegiance to fundamentalist Shiaism and obedience to the ayatollahs is expected of senior state officials, Ahmadinejad and his supporters are increasing their independence from the theocrats in both domestic and foreign affairs. The root cause is a struggle within the government itself, as Ahmadinejad and his cronies undermine the increasingly unpopular religious establishment to gain a larger share of power. Even the anti-government protesters help the president when they chant "traitor (Supreme) Leader" and "death to Khamenei."
The president, his ministers, and staff no longer attend meetings of the Expediency Discernment Council appointed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to mediate between the branches of Iran's Islamic government. That council, headed by former presidential rival Mohsen Rezai (who reports to the office of the Supreme Leader), had served to oversee the president and his appointees.
Hardline clerics and parliamentarians grumble that Ahmadinejad and his ministers regularly defy the Supreme Leader. But having validated last June's election in Ahmadinejad's favour, their reactions are limited to blocking certain executive actions like a nuclear deal with the West.
In response, Ahmadinejad has publicly chastised his rivals in the government for "running to Qom for every instruction," adding that "administering the country should not be left to the [Supreme] Leader, the religious scholars, and other [clerics]." His chief of staff, and relative through marriage, Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, echoes those views: "An Islamic government is not capable of running a vast and populous country like Iran. Running a country is like a horse race, but the problem is that [the clergy] are not horse racers." In his efforts to undercut the religious basis of the clerics' political authority, Ahmadinejad has begun emphasising "pragmatic values" in governance.
Realising that anti-government sentiments are fueled in part by years of behavioural restrictions, Minster of Science Kamran Daneshjou is encouraging attendees at funerals and memorial services to observe a moment of silence instead of reciting the first chapter of the Quran, as has been obligatory. Likewise, the government's cultural adviser, Javad Shamaghdari, is recommending that the hijab, or veil, not be mandatory - much to the horror of mullahs and orthodox laymen. Powerful Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari even averred publicly in October that preserving the government "is more vital than performing daily prayers." Being denounced as "heretics" and "infidels" has not swayed the president and his bureaucratic and military cohorts from their increasingly secular politics.
Ahmadinejad's close ties to the ultraorthodox Ayatollah Mohammad Mesbah Yazdi also haven't dampened the president's drive to consolidate power by abjuring beliefs and practices central to the theocracy. Recently Ahmadinejad has even begun rephrasing his oft-repeated statements about the end of the world-in strictly religious terms.
In an interview with US news media in September, he commented: "The [Mahdi, or 12th] Imam will come with logic, with culture, with science…The stories that have been disseminated around the world about extensive war, apocalyptic wars…are false." So even Ahmadinejad's representation of a nonviolent apocalypse serves to distinguish members of the executive office from the mainstream mullahs in power.
Despite strenuous objections on religious grounds from clerics and parliamentarians, Ahmadinejad separated himself further from the mullahs by nominating three women for cabinet portfolios. Ahmadinejad ridiculed his opponents, demanding to know: "Why shouldn't women be in the cabinet?" In the end, only Marzieh Dastjerdi was confirmed as health minister. Dastjerdi herself provoked the clergy's opposition for declaring, contrary to Islamic tradition, that women's rights should be independent from their fathers and husbands. Ahmadinejad subsequently appointed other women to senior administrative posts. "What's wrong with a woman becoming a governor?" he rhetorically asked an irate gathering in late October, apparently caring little that fundamentalist Muslims everywhere would be incensed. The president's example was quickly followed yet again by his subordinates and some family members. Science Minster Daneshjou inaugurated an international conference for women in the sciences in Tehran in January.
Azamossadat Farahi, who is Ahmadinejad's wife, defied both tradition and clerical wish by delivering the keynote speech there on women, knowledge, and science as "cornerstones" of Allah's creation. Since the recent elections, Farahi has entered public politics very visibly by participating in a meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement and by publicly raising the issue of women's lack of rights.
Likewise, through on-and-off offers to reach a nuclear deal with the West, Ahmadinejad keeps his internal opponents worried - for such an agreement would ease tensions with the West, open Iran to greater interaction with the international community, and thereby consolidate his authority at the expense of the Supreme Leader and ?the parliamentarians.
The latter vigorously oppose any accommodation with the US on nuclear issues, but realise that the executive branch - which is increasingly beyond their control - oversees foreign affairs. Simultaneously, by authorising development of enrichment facilities and missile-based nuclear-warhead delivery systems, the Iranian president keeps his international critics in a constant state of angst while partially mollifying hardline critics at home.
What does all this mean for the Islamic Republic? Supreme Leader Khamenei originally had endorsed both Ahmadinejad's reelection and the IRGC's influence as means of reinforcing clerical power in the wake of last June's electoral dispute. But then the Green Movement's challenge to the political legitimacy of rule by Muslim jurists weakened the status quo. As the people seek a more representative government, the secularist factions of Iran's administration and military are finding common cause in ensuring not only their own survival, but a firmer grasp on power - minus the clergy who have become the central focus of protest.
As a result, together with the IRGC and Basij (a volunteer paramilitary group that has attacked opposition protesters), Ahmadinejad and his ilk are turning to totalitarianism, rather than the fundamentalism of Shia clerics, to suppress the steadily growing democratic aspirations of the Green Movement. Yet the mullahs have strong allies too, not only in the legislature, led by Ali Larijani (who hails from a family of well-known clerics), but even among the president's own clan, whose members remain divided on abjuring theocracy. The Green Movement is most open to rapprochement with the West; the clerics, the least flexible. Ahmadinejad, his ministers, and their secular bureaucracy shift back and forth-knowing foreign engagement is essential but not yet completely free of the theocrats' yoke. Perhaps, the squabbling factions in power eventually will render themselves too ineffective to stand in the way of the Green Movement's reforms. For now, it's a three-way struggle for the future of freedom, faith, and internationalism.


Jamsheed K. Choksy is professor of Iranian, Islamic, and international studies and former director of the Middle Eastern studies programme at Indiana University. He also is a member of the National Council on the Humanities at the US National Endowment for the Humanities. The views expressed are his own.

  Anti-Muslim hatred

And in the last nine months two of the most serious bomb plot convictions were of far-right racists who were planning to kill Muslims.

Seumas Milne      

If young British Muslims had any doubts that they are singled out for special treatment in the land of their birth, the punishments being meted out to those who took part in last year's London demonstrations against Israel's war on Gaza will have dispelled them.
The protests near the Israeli embassy at the height of the onslaught were angry: bottles and stones were thrown, a Starbucks was trashed and the police employed unusually violent tactics, even by the standards of other recent confrontations, such as the G20 protests.
But a year later, it turns out that it's the sentences that are truly exceptional. Of 119 people arrested, 78 have been charged, all but two of them young Muslims (most between the ages of 16 and 19), even though such figures in no way reflect the mix of those who took part. In the past few weeks, 15 have been convicted, mostly of violent disorder, and jailed for between eight months and two-and-a-half years - having switched to guilty pleas to avoid heavier terms. Another nine are up to be sentenced on Friday.
The severity of the charges and sentencing goes far beyond the official response to any other recent anti-war demonstration, or even the violent stop the City [London's financial sector] protests a decade ago. So do the arrests, many of them carried out months after the event in dawn raids by dozens of police officers, who smashed down doors and handcuffed family members as if they were suspected terrorists. Naturally, none of the more than 30 complaints about police violence were upheld, even where video evidence was available.
Nothing quite like this has happened, in fact, since 2001, when young Asian Muslims rioted against extreme rightwing racist groups in Bradford and other northern English towns and were subjected to heavily disproportionate prison terms. In the Gaza protest cases, the judge has explicitly relied on the Bradford precedent and repeatedly stated that the sentences he is handing down are intended as a deterrent.
For many in the Muslim community, the point will be clear: not only that these are political sentences, but that different rules apply to Muslims who take part in democratic protest at their peril. It's a dangerous message, especially given the threat from a tiny minority that is drawn towards indiscriminate violence in response to Britain's wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and rejects any truck with mainstream politics.
But it's one that is constantly reinforced by politicians and parts of the media, who have increasingly blurred the distinction between violent and non-violent groups, demonised Islamism as an alien threat and branded as extremist any Muslim leader who dares to campaign against western foreign policy in the Muslim world. That's reflected in the government's targeting of "non-violent extremism" and lavish funding of anti-Islamist groups, as well as in Tory plans to ban the non-violent Hizbut Tahrir and crack down ever harder on "extremist written material and speech".
In the media, it takes the form of relentless attempts to expose Muslims involved in wider politics as secret fanatics and sympathisers with terrorism. Next week, the UK's Channel 4 TV's current affairs programme Dispatches plans to broadcast the latest in a series of undercover documentaries aimed at revealing the ugly underside of British Muslim political life….
As recent research co-authored by the former head of the Metropolitan [London] police special branch's Muslim contact unit, Bob Lambert, has shown, such ubiquitous portrayals of Muslim activists as "terrorists, sympathisers and subversives" (all the while underpinned by a drumbeat campaign against the non-existent Afghan burka) are one factor in the alarming growth of British Islamophobia and the rising tide of anti-Muslim violence and hate crimes that stem from it.
Last month's British Social Attitudes survey found that most people now regard Britain as "deeply divided along religious lines", with hostility to Muslims and Islam far outstripping such attitudes to any other religious group. On the ground that has translated into murders, assaults and attacks on mosques and Muslim institutions - with shamefully little response in politics or the media. Last year, five mosques in Britain were firebombed, though barely reported in the national press, let alone visited by a government minister to show solidarity.
And now there is a street movement, the English Defence League, directly adopting the officially sanctioned targets of "Islamists" and "extremists" - as well as the "Taliban" and the threat of a "takeover of Islam" - to intimidate and threaten Muslim communities across the country, following the success of the British National party in baiting Muslims above all other ethnic and religious communities.
Of course, anti-Muslim bigotry, the last socially acceptable racism, is often explained away by the London bombings of 2005 and the continuing threat of terror attacks, even though by far the greatest number of what the authorities call "terrorist incidents" in the UK take place in Northern Ireland, while Europol figures show that more than 99 per cent of terrorist attacks in Europe over the past three years were carried out by non-Muslims. And in the last nine months two of the most serious bomb plot convictions were of far-right racists who were planning to kill Muslims.

International

Pakistan’s decisive action to aid Afghan conciliation: US
Dawn Online, Washington

Pakistan's 'decisive' action against the Taliban is already showing results, says the US State Department, adding that such measures would encourage militants to seek reconciliation.
"This is expressly the kind of decisive action that we sought in our strategy from the outset, and that has been the basis upon which we have worked with Afghanistan, worked with Pakistan," said the department's spokesman P.J. Crowley.
Talking to reporters at the State Department on Thursday evening, Crowley, however, warned that it was too early to declare victory.
There has been a positive response in the US to Pakistani military and intelligence operations over the last several weeks that resulted in the capture of some key Taliban leaders, including the group's military chief Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar.
Crowley said that Pakistani actions were linked to a joint strategy for dealing with militants, which began with the recognition that they were an adversary of the United States as well as Afghanistan, and Pakistan.
"But as to what conclusions those who are associated with political violence will draw from this, that is expressly why we have included in our strategy the concept of reintegrating those who are currently engaged in the fight," he added.
To join this reintegration process, the militants will first have to lay down their arms, disassociate themselves from Al Qaeda and accept the Afghan constitution or the rule of law in Pakistan, he said.
Responding to a question about a possible reconciliation with the Taliban leadership, the spokesman said the US and its allies were "not too far down that road at this point".
Such decisions, he added, would ultimately be made by the Afghan leadership on their side, the Pakistani leadership on their side. "But certainly, I think we are encouraged by the broad trends that show the results of Pakistan's decisive action."
Crowley claimed that in southern Afghanistan, where the US was conducting a major military operation, the militants were already showing interest in the reintegration process. "We're now moving ahead with being able to bring more civilians into that region and demonstrate to the Afghan people that there are clear benefits to them in the immediate term and the long run."

  Obama should approach Pakistan, India even-handedly, gear up diplomacy to solve tensions

APP, Washington/New York

The Obama Administration must step up its diplomatic drive to help Pakistan and India make meaningful progress on outstanding issues including Kashmir as peace between two countries will influence regional security and outcome of the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan, two major American newspapers advocated. The New York Times and The Christian Science Monitor, observing that the February 25 Pakistan-India talks did not yield the desired results, said Washington should do a better job of encouraging Islamabad and New Delhi to move substantively towards resolution of their tensions.
"After the two sides met Thursday, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao of India said that she agreed only to "keep in touch" with her Pakistani counterpart, Salman Bashir. No future discussions were scheduled.
"That is not enough. Not for the United States, which needs tensions eased so Pakistan can focus more on fighting the Taliban and other extremists. And especially not for India and Pakistan," the New York Times noted in an editorial.
"The administration knows how important it is for India and Pakistan to lower tensions. India's insistence, it has decided to take a low profile role, nudging the two sides discreetly back to the table. It should nudge harder," the Times argued.
The two South Asian nations, the paper said, can seek a common ground from discussions on water issues and must also talk about "terrorism, their nuclear rivalry, Kashmir and their counterproductive competition for influence in Afghanistan."
"In 2007, after three years of secret negotiations, the two sides were reportedly close to a deal to create an autonomous, demilitarized region in Kashmir. That ended when President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan resigned in 2008.

  Troops clear last pockets of resistance in Marjah
AP, Marjah

Marines and Afghan troops cleared the last major pocket of resistance in the former Taliban-ruled town of Marjah on Saturday - part of an offensive that is the run-up to a larger showdown this year in the most strategic part of Afghanistan's dangerous south.
Although Marines say their work in Marjah isn't done, Afghans are bracing for a bigger, more comprehensive assault in neighboring Kandahar province, the birthplace of the Taliban where officials are talking to aid organizations about how to handle up to 10,000 people who could be displaced by fighting.
"I was in Kabul, and we were talking that Kandahar will be next, but we don't know when," said Tooryalai Wesa, the governor of Kandahar. He's begun working with international aid groups to make sure the next group of displaced Afghans have tents, water containers, medicine, food, blankets, lamps and stoves.
"Hopefully things will go smoothly, that people have learned lessons from the Marjah operation," he said.
Shortages of food and medicine have been reported during the 2-week-old Marjah operation. The international Red Cross evacuated dozens of sick and injured civilians to clinics outside the area. The U.N. says more than 3,700 families, or an estimated 22,000 people, from Marjah and surrounding areas have registered in Helmand's capital of Lashkar Gah 20 miles (30 kilometers) away.
Walid Akbar, a spokesman for the Afghan Red Crescent Society, said government aid was mostly received by those who made it to Lashkar Gah, Akbar said.
Meanwhile, a roadside bomb planted by the Taliban killed 11 civilians in Afghanistan's southern province of Helmand on Sunday, the provincial administration said. "A civilian car struck a roadside bomb in Nawzad district" in the north of Helmand, the provincial governor's spokesman Daud Ahmadi told AFP.

  India and Naga rebels set for peace talks
AFP, New Delhi

The Indian government will hold talks with Nagaland separatists to strike a peace deal, a rebel Naga leader said on Sunday.
Leaders of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-IM), which is fighting for the expansion of the mountainous Nagaland state in India's remote northeast into a "Greater Nagaland", arrived in the Indian capital on Saturday from self-imposed exile in The Netherlands.
Guerrilla leaders Isak Chishi Swu and Thuingaleng Muivah said they were invited by the Indian government to hold talks and were optimistic that several key demands would be accepted.
"It is a pretty long time that we have been talking to the government of India. In more than 10 years, they could not solve the problem so they are responsible for that," said Thuingaleng Muivah.
The rebel group's demand for a "Greater Nagaland" that would unite 1.2 million Nagas has been strongly opposed by the surrounding neighbouring states of Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh. Muivah said the group would not withdraw the demand.
"No, sovereignty cannot be withdrawn because sovereignty is with the people... We have been told that the government of India has arranged some counter-proposals from their side. I don't know how far that is practicable or acceptable to us," he said.
Meanwhile, India's Home Secretary G. K. Pillai on Saturday said demands for sovereignty or integration of Naga rebel groups were not feasible.
New Delhi and the rebels entered into a ceasefire in August 1997 which was indefinitely extended in 2007 but the separatists have accused the Indian government of using the ceasefire as cover to tighten its grip and of jeopardising a peace process.
India and the rebels of Nagaland state, bordering China and Myanmar, have held at least 50 rounds of peace talks in over a decade to end one of South Asia's longest-running insurgencies.

  US govt forwards $1.45b aid for Pakistan
Dawn Online, Washington

The Obama administration sent lawmakers a plan for $1.45 billion in aid for Pakistan this year, funding water, energy and other projects as well as a media campaign to counter extremist views.
The 2010 spending plan, obtained by Reuters, was sent to lawmakers late on Thursday as part of the US administration's obligation to consult Congress over the civilian aid package.
The aid is aimed at expanding ties with Islamabad beyond military spending, which amounted to more than $10 billion over the past nine years.
"It represents a rebalancing of the military and civilian assistance," Deputy Secretary of State Jack Lew told Reuters of the package, part of a $7.5 billion, five-year aid plan passed by Congress for Pakistan last year.
The 15-page spending plan said the Obama administration was working closely with Pakistan's government to design "high-impact" projects in energy, agriculture, water and education and to improve services and economic opportunities for people in areas susceptible to extremism.
The "funding will help build the capacity of the government of Pakistan to provide basic services while extending its writ in poorer areas vulnerable to extremism," said the report.
The biggest chunk of the money - just over a billion - covers economic support, including funds to build up weak government capacity at both the local and national levels.
Infrastructure projects took up $55 million, with a focus on energy and helping to ease rolling blackouts that have crippled some industry and are a major public irritant.
"Over time, this assistance will strengthen ties between the American and Pakistani people by showing the US commitment to helping Pakistan address its water and energy crises, which are some of the most pressing needs of the Pakistani people," the report said."
There is strong anti-American sentiment in Pakistan and the hope is this new assistance will help ease that tension. About $50 million was set aside for a "comprehensive communications strategy" to counter extremist views and strengthen Pakistani institutions and moderate voices, the report to Congress said.

  N Korea may return to talks in March or April
AFP, Seoul

North Korea may return to nuclear disarmament talks in March or April, Yonhap news agency said Sunday, citing an unnamed senior South Korean government official.
"We believe North Korea will come back to the six-party talks sooner or later, possibly in March or April, although we cannot predict the exact timing," the official was quoted by Yonhap telling a group of South Korean journalists in Washington on Saturday.
"Our judgement is based on circumstantial evidence surrounding recent contacts between North Korea and China."
China hosts the six-party talks and is the communist North's only major ally.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, after talks with her South Korean counterpart Yu Myung-Hwan in Washington, said Friday she was "encouraged by signs of progress" toward the resumption of the six-party process.
The talks-which involve China, the two Koreas, the United States, Russia and Japan-have been stalled since North Korea rejected them 10 months ago in protest at UN censure of its missile and nuclear tests.
A senior State Department official in Washington said the North may be compelled to return to talks to benefit from international aid after bungled economic reforms.
The North has demanded the lifting of UN sanctions and discussion of a peace treaty on the Korean peninsula before it returns to the negotiations.
But the United States, South Korea and Japan have said North Korea must return to the talks first and make substantial progress toward denuclearisation before other issues are discussed.
North Korea, which tested atomic weapons in October 2006 and May 2009, says it developed nuclear weaponry because of a US threat of aggression, and it must have a peace pact before it considers giving them up.
The 1950-1953 Korean War ended only in an armistice. Seoul officials suspect talk of a peace treaty is an excuse to delay action on the nuclear programme.

  Grenade attacks raise tensions in Thailand
AFP, Bangkok

Thailand tightened security Sunday after two grenades exploded outside branches of the country's biggest bank in a suspected reaction to a court verdict against deposed premier Thaksin Shinawatra.
Unidentified attackers fired four grenades at branches of Bangkok Bank late Saturday after judges confiscated 1.4 billion dollars of the fugitive tycoon's wealth the day before. Two of the grenades detonated, causing damage but no casualties.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said he had asked troops to help provide extra security across the country following the attacks, but was not enacting harsh security laws as the government had threatened.
"The bomb incidents were expected after the verdict. They are the actions of a small group of people who want to create unrest," Abhisit said in his weekly television broadcast. He said police and soldiers were monitoring at checkpoints and that the government would install more closed-circuit television cameras.
"Our society is in a challenging situation right now," the premier added.
The attacks came just over a week after Thaksin's supporters, known as the "Red Shirts", surrounded Bangkok Bank's headquarters and forced it to close for the day.
They said the bank had links to chief royal adviser and former prime minister Prem Tinsulanonda, whom they accuse of masterminding the 2006 coup that toppled Thaksin.
The first blast shattered the windows and doors of a branch in the Silom business district and the second caused similar damage and wrecked telephone booths in Samut Prakarn, on the outskirts of the capital.

 Israel police storm holy site to quell protest
AP, Jerusalem

Israeli police forces stormed the most contentious holy site in Jerusalem on Sunday to disperse masked Palestinian protesters hurling rocks at visiting foreign tourists.
The incident was over quickly, but the area remained tense. In the past, violence at the site - known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary - has erupted into deadly battles.
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said police dispersed some 20 masked protesters who had holed up overnight in Al-Aqsa mosque building inside the hilltop compound. The protesters pelted tourists with objects early Sunday, and threw rocks at the police when they responded to the incident, he said.
Calm was quickly restored, he said, and about a thousand tourists have since visited the site.
However, small groups of masked Palestinians continued to clash with police elsewhere in Jerusalem's Old City and in a nearby neighborhood just outside the walled area.
Rosenfeld said police dispersed the protesters without having to use force, but two officers were lightly wounded and seven Palestinian rioters were arrested. By midday, the clashes had ended, but about 15 Palestinians remained holed up inside the complex. Tensions have been high in recent days following the Israeli government's announcement that two West Bank shrines would be added to Israel's list of national heritage sites. Palestinians denounced the move as a provocation, and President Mahmoud Abbas has warned the incident could spark a "religious war." Rosenfeld said it was unclear what sparked Sunday's violence, but said the decision on the West Bank shrines was clearly in the "background." Conflicting claims to the hilltop site of Sunday's violence lie at the heart of the Israel-Palestinian conflict.
Jews revere it as the site of the two biblical Temples, while Muslims regard the Al-Aqsa compound, home to the gold-capped Dome of the Rock, as Islam's third-holiest site, where the Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven.
The compound has been a frequent flashpoint for conflicts before. A visit to the site in 2000 by Ariel Sharon, then an Israeli opposition leader and later prime minister, helped ignite deadly clashes that escalated into violence that engulfed Israel and the Palestinian territories for several years. Israel has controlled the compound since capturing east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war and insists it will retain it forever, though it has left day-to-day administration to a Muslim clerical body.

  Iraqi vote shows deep divides still facing country
AP, Baghdad

Iraq is a week away from a parliamentary election that was supposed to showcase a peaceful democracy poised to stand on its own feet after U.S. forces go home. While there have been successes, the vote also underlines the deep ethnic and sectarian tensions that are putting the country's future in the balance - secular or Islamic, pro-Iran or pro-West.
Tension leading up to the March 7 balloting, only the second for a full, four-year parliamentary term since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, shows that despite more than 4,300 American and tens of thousands of Iraqi deaths, the ethnic and religious rivalries that fueled the war remain largely unresolved. If the election produces a government that can bring relative stability, President Barack Obama can declare success and comfortably withdraw all American forces by the end of next year. However, if the election leads to greater instability, it will tarnish the legacies of both Obama and his predecessor George W. Bush, casting further doubt over the wisdom of a war that was launched on flawed intelligence that Saddam Hussein held weapons of mass destruction in violation of U.N. orders.
The country has seen progress since the dark days of the insurgency - explosions and the number of bodies at the morgue are fewer, and people move freely around the cities. Those are significant steps for a country where people were once terrified to leave their homes and fled the country by the hundreds of thousands.
Iraq Kurds again likely to be
kingmakers post-poll
Reuters adds: Tensions between Iraq's Kurds and Arabs may one day lead to armed conflict but, after an election in March, Arab parties will be vying with each other to court Kurdish allies expected to emerge as powerful kingmakers.

  Iran’s Khamenei says IAEA lacks independence
AFP, Tehran

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Sunday the UN nuclear watchdog lacks independence, as the 35-member body meets this week to discuss a new report on Tehran's atomic programme.
Urging the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to refrain from being "influenced by the United States," Khamenei, in a speech to Tehran's ambassadors abroad, said some recent "measures and reports of the agency show its lack of independence."
The IAEA Monday begins four days of discussions in Vienna on its most recent report, which expresses concern at Tehran's nuclear programme and says the Islamic republic may "currently" be working on a nuclear warhead.
The report also confirms that Iran has started enriching uranium to higher levels, theoretically bringing it close to the levels needed for an atomic bomb.
The IAEA meeting could well pave the way for the fourth round of sanctions by the United Nations Security Council against Iran as world powers are furious at Tehran for engaging in higher enrichment work. Iranian officials, including the all-powerful Khamenei, steadfastly deny Tehran is making an atom bomb.
New UN watchdog head faces rising tension with Iran
The U.N. atomic watchdog's new chief will present a tougher approach to Iran at a meeting of member states starting on Monday where clashes loom over his suggestion Tehran may be trying to design a nuclear weapon.

  Al-Qaida bomber calls for attacks on Jordan spies
AP, Cairo

An al-Qaida double agent that killed seven CIA operatives and a Jordanian spy called for jihad in Jordan and attacks on its intelligence agency in a posthumous video message posted on extremist Web sites Sunday.
Humam Khalil Abu Mulal al-Balawi also described Sunday in the 43-minute video his recruitment by Jordanian intelligence and how he double crossed them after they sent him to Afghanistan to spy on al-Qaida.
The video was apparently filmed shortly before the 32-year-old al-Balawi blew himself up at a CIA facility on Dec. 30 in Afghanistan's eastern province of Khost where he'd been invited to reveal information on al-Qaida No. 2, Ayman al-Zawahri. Al-Balawi said he only expected to kill his Jordanian handler, Ali bin Zaid, but the addition of the CIA members was a windfall.
"We planned for something but got a bigger gift, a gift from Allah, who brought us, through His accompaniment, a valuable prey: Americans, and from the CIA. That's when I became certain that the best way to teach Jordanian intelligence and the CIA a lesson is with the martyrdom belt," he said in the video.
The secretive eastern Afghan CIA base was reportedly used as a key outpost in the effort to identify and target terror leaders, many of whom were taken out by the drone-fired missile strikes.
It was one of the worst losses for the CIA ever and revealed the cooperation between the American and Jordanian intelligence services. Al-Balawi, who appeared in a military fatigues cradling an assault rifle and what appears to be C4 explosives, described the successes of Jordanian intelligence agai-nst extremists over the years and their close working relationship with the CIA.
He said Jordan had provided information for the killing of Al-Qaida in Iraq chief Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in 2006 as well as that of top Hezbollah commander Imad Mughniyeh, who died in a car bomb in Damascus in 2008.
"The Jordanian intelligence apparatus has a record which emboldens them to such behavior, but with Allah's permission, after this operation, they will never stand on their feet again," he said.
Al-Balawi, a doctor, hailed from the same hometown of Zarqa as al-Zarqawi and was a prolific contributor to extremist Web sites, but was never able to realize his dream of joining the jihad until he was arrested by Jordanian security.

  Dubai, Britain probe Israelis over Hamas murder
AFP, Dubai

Most suspects linked to the murder of a senior Hamas militant are in Israel, Dubai police said Saturday as their British counterparts were in the Jewish state to probe the killers' use of fake passports.
Dubai police chief Dahi Khalfan pointed the finger at Meir Dagan, the head of Israel's secret service Mossad which is widely suspected of carrying out last month's Cold War-style hit on Mahmud al-Mabhuh in his Dubai hotel room.
Khalfan's force has published details of 26 suspects together with passport photographs, and has revealed it has DNA proof of the identity at least one of the killers.
"What is sure right now is that the majority of the murderers whose names have been announced... are to be found in Israel," he said in comments published in the Arabic-language daily Al-Khaleej.
"Dagan and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will head the list (of an international arrest warrant) if it is proven that Mossad is behind the murder," the police chief said.
Khalfan said Dubai police had succeeded in identifying the suspects from closed circuit television footage, even though some of the suspects wore wigs during the operation. Israel has sought to play down the row, saying there is no evidence of its involvement. It has rejected the calls for Dagan's arrest as "baseless" and "absurd."
A spokesman for the British embassy in Tel Aviv said meanwhile that two of its police officers were in Israel to investigate the use of fake British passports by Mabhuh's killers. "Two British police officers arrived a few days ago to interview British passport holders on the use of false passports" bearing their identities in the case, Rafi Shamir told AFP on Saturday.
The officers were preparing to meet six dual nationals whose British passports were used in the assassination, Britain's Serious Organised Crime Agency said.

  Obama signs one-year extension of Patriot Act
AP, Washington

President Barack Obama has signed a one-year extension of several provisions in the nation's main counterterrorism law, the Patriot Act.
Provisions in the measure would have expired on Sunday without Obama's signature Saturday.
The act, which was adopted in the weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks, expands the government's ability to monitor Americans in the name of national security. Three sections of the Patriot Act that stay in force will:
Authorize court-approved roving wiretaps that permit surveillance on multiple phones.
Allow court-approved seizure of records and property in anti-terrorism operations.
Permit surveillance against a so-called lone wolf, a non-U.S. citizen engaged in terrorism who may not be part of a recognized terrorist group.
Obama's signature comes after the House voted 315 to 97 Thursday to extend the measure.
The Senate also approved the measure, with privacy protections cast aside when Senate Democrats lacked the necessary 60-vote supermajority to pass them. Thrown away were restrictions and greater scrutiny on the government's authority to spy on Americans and seize their records.

  China says moving to enforce greenhouse gas goals
Reuters, Beijing

China said on Sunday it will spell out greenhouse gas emissions goals and monitoring rules for regions and sectors in its next five-year plan, with monitoring to show it is serious about curbing emissions.
The Chinese government said in November it would reduce the amount of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas from human activity, emitted to make each unit of national income by 40 to 45 percent by 2020, compared with 2005 levels.
That goal would let China's greenhouse gas emissions keep rising, but more slowly than its rapid economic growth.
The policy was a cornerstone of Beijing's position at the Copenhagen summit on climate change late last year when governments tried with limited success to agree on a new global treaty on fighting global warming.
The United States and other powers said China, the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases from industry and other human activities, should have offered to do more to bring its domestic "carbon intensity" goal into an international pact that would reassure other governments. China said it and other poorer countries should not be obliged to take on internationally-binding emissions goals, and officials said Beijing would take steps to show the world it was serious about enforcing that goal.
Now the leading committee of China's national parliament has gone some way to showing how the government plans, saying officials will carry out an "inventory" of greenhouse gas emissions in 2005 and 2008, using that as a yardstick for setting emissions reductions goals across areas and sectors.

Business/Economy

Stocks suffer further loss
BSS, Dhaka

Dhaka stocks dipped further at the week's opening on Sunday amid the continuous market corrections, which began last week in a long-waited response to the regulator's measures to prevent the market from bubbling out.
The index, which ended with 114 points slide at the last week's closing on Thursday, plunged further by 123.23 points at the end of Sunday.
Aims of Bangladesh, a leading asset management company, said in its latest market review that the longest bullish spell in bourses snapped as investors went down to book profit.
The benchmark DSE general index came down to 5560.56 from the peak 5828.38 it hit on February 17.
Aims observed that liquidity flow declined drastically as investors and traders chose to refrain from trading in sloppy market situation.
Average daily turnover declined by around 50 percent when the single day turnover went down to the year's lowest of Taka 861 crore from its peak of Taka 1690 crore on February 2.
GP apparently drove the market downwards with its price fluctuations in regulated transactions on the spot market. The largest issue lost 3.60 percent when the index suffered 2.17 percent loss. Like last week, most of the sectors declined on Sunday. Even bank issues nosedived despite modest dividend announcements.
Stockbrokers said investors found lack of surprise in declaration and were reluctant to hold banks' shares, expecting ex-dividend price correction.
DSE last week halted the trading of the AIMS First Mutual Fund following its 70 percent stock dividend and 130 percent right entitlement declaration, which was forwarded to SEC for approval.
The decision also prompted investors largely to remain cautious in buying mutual fund shares, which eventually decrease the fund flow into the market.

 Business-friendly atmosphere prevails in country : Shafique

BSS, Dhaka

Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Barrister Shafique Ahmed on Sunday said as the government is sincere to make a business-friendly atmosphere in the country it had undertaken a number of measures in the interest of industry, trade and commerce to encourage the businessmen to invest.
"With the government steps, an atmosphere conducive to business is now prevailing in the country," he told the annual conference 2009 of International Business Forum of Bangladesh (IBFB) at a city hotel.
Chaired by president of IBFB Mahmudul Islam Chowdhury, the function was also addressed, among others, by US Ambassador in Dhaka James F. Moriarty, Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) chairman M. Hafizuddin Khan.
The minister said the business community faced various problems due to the complexities and imperviousness in income tax law.
"The government will take initiatives to simplify the income tax law for removing difficulties after discussing with all concerned," he added. Barrister Shafique called upon the businessmen to come forward for investing in various sectors especially in the agro- based industry saying that the prospect of establishing agro- based industry in the northern region of the country is bright.
Stressing the need for producing quality goods, the Law Minister said the commodities produced without maintaining quality is a threat to public health.
He also urged the business community to maintain honesty and think about the welfare of the people while carrying out business.

  Revenue rises by 16.23pc in 7 months
BSS, Dhaka

The revenue collection in the first seven months of the current 2009-10 financial year rose by 16.23 percent over the same period of the last 2008-09 fiscal year.
The increase is also in line with the expected growth of revenue, indicating a positive trend in achieving the targeted revenue earning at the end of the current financial year.
The house committee on finance, however, advised the National Board of Revenue (NBR) on Sunday to accelerate its activities further to tap more revenue.
The committee at a meeting discussed elaborately the NBR's progress in skilled development, network expansion, creating awareness about paying taxes and identifying new taxpayers.
The NBR is now implementing some programmes including hiring of skilled manpower, expanding its network up to upazila level and making people more aware about the benefit of regular tax payments.
The parliamentary standing committee on the finance ministry also suggested that NBR settle soon the pending tax-related cases and bring all of its activities under digital system.
The committee also advised the NBR to take effective measures, ensuring that no one harass air-passengers in the name of collecting taxes. Committee Chairman AHM Mostafa Kamal presided the meeting, attended by its members AKM Maidul Islam, Mohammad Tajul Islam and Farida Rahman and NBR Chairman Dr Nasir Uddin Ahmed.

  BB for implementation of CDM-supported environment-friendly projects

BSS, Dhaka

Governor of Bangladesh Bank (BB) Dr Atiur Rahman on Sunday commended initiative in promoting use of facilities available under Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), window of Kyoto Protocol carbon trading arrangement, for renewable energy and other environment-friendly projects in Bangladesh.
" I look forward to their playing an instrumental role in familiarizing entrepreneurs and financiers with this window of opportunity in CDM, making available necessary technical support in preparing proposals seeking CDM assistance," he told a workshop organized by Climate Action Bangladesh with support from German GTZ, Evolution Markets at a local hotel here.
Dr Atiur said, it's a pity that entrepreneurs, financiers and authorities in Bangladesh have been very late in taking note of the opportunity offered by CDM in making renewable nergy and other environment friendly projects more viable in developing economy like us, substantially mitigating the financial risks for entrepreneurs and financiers.
He said, while entrepreneurs in China and India have already drawn billions of US dollars from CDM window, with long lists of many more queued up in processing, we have thus far heard of only two projects in Bangladesh accessing a few millions.
The central bank governor described renewable energy projects as typically challenging for entrepreneurs and financiers in respect of financial viability and said the newer technologies and equipment involved usually lead to higher costs of output than those of conventional successes.
Bangladesh Bank's refinance window, he said, available to banks and financial institutions against their financing of renewable energy like solar biogas, effluent treatment plants, biogas and other environment friendly projects reduce financial costs to some extent, but cannot compensate for all higher cost elements in these projects.
Chaired by former environment secretary and chief of Climate Action Bangladesh Syed Tanveer Hussain, it was also addressed by Dr Khurshid Alam of GTZ and Dhrim Mehtani of Evolution Markets.

  G20 summit preparatory talks end in S.Korea
AFP, Seoul

Officials from the Group of 20 developed and emerging economies wrapped up a two-day forum on the global economy in South Korea Sunday.
The forum was the first in a series of preparatory get-togethers ahead of this year's G20 summits, in Toronto in June and Seoul in November. "It is meaningful that the G20 discussions had a first and good start for this year," Rhee Changyong, secretary-general and sherpa of the Presidential Committee for the G20 summit, said after the forum ended.
"I'm confident that South Korea, host of a G20 summit this year, will be able to do its coordinating job successfully."
The forum, held in Incheon west of Seoul, drew some 150 people from G20 members as well as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.

  Govt urged to remove barriers to global trade growth
BSS, Dhaka

International Chamber of Commerce, Bangladesh (ICC,B) President Mahbubur Rahman on Sunday called upon the government to take steps to remove business-related barriers to propel the international trade growth. He said businesses in international trade are facing the threats including fraud from organized crime, including hijacking of ships and taking crews as hostage at high seas, theft of goods at port and at sea.
The ICCB President made the remarks while inaugurating a daylong workshop on 'International Trade Fraud: Prevention, Control and Remedies at the Bangabandhu International Conference Center (BICC) here today, said a press release of the ICC,B.
The ICC,B President mentioned that the rise in online trading has created new forms of criminal activity, such as new ways of laundering money etc. International trade fraud is not confined to any particular region, country or industry and commercial crime is growing faster than international trade.
Frauds are more complex and involve largest sums than ever before, the noted businessman observed. He pointed out that Internet has emerged as a blessing for the present pace of life but at the same time also resulted in various threats to the consumers and other institutions. Various criminals like hackers, crackers have been able to pave their way to interfere with the internet accounts through various techniques like hacking the Domain Name Server (DNS), Internet Provider's (IP) address, spoofing, fishing etc.
Bangladesh has been growing fast in the international trade and both import and export are increasing at substantial rate, he said adding that as the international trade is growing all parties involved in the trade is also getting exposed to the risk of international trade finance fraud. "The more the market of import-export is expanding the more we are facing the risk of unknown events including fraud," the ICC,B President added.
Chairman of ICCB Standing Committee on Banking, Technique & Practices Mamun Rashid said in view of the situation of growing piracies and commercial crimes ICC,B organized this workshop for the second time in Dhaka. He expressed the hope that the participants going back to their desk would be able to work more efficiently in combating the commercial crimes in International Trade.
Director and Chief of ICC - International Crime Services P Mukundan, who conducted the workshop, spoke at the inaugural session.
A total of 93 participants from banks, pharmaceutical companies, govt export promotion organization and export oriented industries took part in the workshop. A similar workshop will be held by ICC Bangladesh in the port city of Chittagong on March 1, the release added.

  Foreign investment plunges in Russia over 2009
AFP, Moscow

Foreign direct investment in Russia fell by 41.1 percent to 15.9 billion dollars in 2009, the Russian statistics service Rosstat said Saturday in a statement.
Total foreign investment fell by 21 percent, to 81.9 billion dollars (60.1 billion euros).
However, the total foreign capital Russia attracted rose by 1.4 percent compared to 2008, reaching 268.2 billion dollars (196.9 billion euros).
Top foreign investors in Russia last year included Cyprus, (contributing 18.3 percent of the total), followed by the Netherlands and Luxembourg.
The United States was Russia's fourth largest investor, but its investment had reduced by 21 percent compared with 2008.
After the economic crisis, which hit Russia hard, investors had withdrawn back billions of dollars from the country.
But Russian authorities estimate that the country, which saw its economy contract by 7.9 percent in 2009, began to emerge from the crisis in the third quarter.
For 2010, Russia's ministry of economic development is counting on a return to growth and a 3.1 percent increase in GDP.

  Debt-hit Greece must step up spending cuts
AFP, Athens

Debt-hit Greece must step up spending cuts as other European taxpayers are not inclined to correct the mismanagement of past Greek governments, the head of the eurozone finance ministers said on Sunday.
"Greece must step up its efforts to limit its public deficit," Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, head of the eurogroup of ministers that oversee the eurozone, said in a statement to Eleftherotypia daily.
"It must focus on further spending cuts and on ways to increase revenue."
"Greece must understand that taxpayers in Germany, Belgium or Luxembourg are not prepared to correct Greek fiscal policy mistakes," he said. The comments came a day before the European Union's economic affairs commissioner Olli Rehn arrives in Athens to inspect progress on the Greek government's plans to slash state spending and boost tax revenue. Luxembourg has expressed readiness to help Greece if asked but "we must first be persuaded that the (Greek) measures are serious," Juncker said. Greece has come under market pressure as the weak link in the euro since it revealed late last year that its public deficit and debt were much worse than initially thought.
The Greek deficit is over four times the allowed EU limit at 12.7 percent and the country is also saddled with a debt of nearly 300 billion euros (408 billion dollars).
The Socialist government has pledged to cut the deficit by four percentage points of gross domestic product to 8.7 percent this year, but there are widespread doubts that the recession-hit country will meet this goal. If the programme proves insufficient, a meeting of EU finance ministers could demand even harsher corrective action at a meeting on March 16.
On Thursday, the semi-state Athens News Agency reported that an EU and European Central Bank mission to Athens that prepared the ground for Rehn's visit had raised "key objections" to Greek income forecasts.
If austerity measures failed to bear fruit then additional policies to raise 3.6 billion to 4.8 billion euros (4.0 billion to 6.5 billion dollars) would be necessary, the report cited mission members as saying.

  Toyota likely to restore reputation
AFP, Tokyo

Toyota's bungled global recalls has badly damaged its brand image, but while the carmaker faces its biggest-ever crisis, analysts and experts say its reputation is by no means beyond repair.
The Japanese giant, the world's biggest automaker, has been almost constantly in the spotlight since January over a rash of defects that have prompted the recall of more than eight million vehicles worldwide.
But the company's embattled president Akio Toyoda might be warmed to know that several high-profile firms in the past have recovered strongly from public relations disasters, sometimes even strengthening their positions long term.
Johnson & Johnson's crisis management over poisoned Tylenol pills in the early 1980s turned the US drugmaker into a hero, say PR industry experts.
When seven people died after taking the cyanide-laced painkillers, the company issued a mass recall and a large media campaign, introduced new tamper-proof packaging and gave customers free replacements. The difference, however, was that the recalls were issued swiftly, whereas Toyota has been accused of moving far too slowly.
On the other hand, big names like Coca-Cola and Exxon Mobil were heavily criticised in the past over delayed public action-although they managed to salvage their reputations.
Toyota may belong to this category, communications experts said.
"Recovery is much more difficult if you start off badly," said Jonathan Hemus, who heads British consultancy Insignia.

  IMF wants new power to supervise global financial system
AFP, Washington

The International Monetary Fund wants new authority to supervise the global financial system, IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn said Friday.
Strauss-Kahn, in a speech in Washington, said the IMF needed to update its mandate as the global economy emerges from the worst recession in decades.
"We must build on this positive momentum: to transform the Fund into an institution even better equipped to meet the challenges of the post-crisis era," the IMF managing director told a meeting of the Bretton Woods Committee.
"There may be a need for a clearer mandate to pursue risks to global economic and-I stress-financial stability," he said, according to the prepared text.
"In particular, we are floating the idea of a new multilateral surveillance procedure. This would allow-indeed require-the Fund to assess the broader and systemic effects of country-level policies, and the associated risks, in a fundamentally different way."
The 186-nation IMF currently is responsible for economic surveillance country by country, as well as developments for developments relating to the global economy as a whole, he said, "but in practice, the bulk of our efforts have been at the country level."
"One result of this has been that we have not paid enough attention to the linkages and spillovers between economies-including those that transmit through the arteries of the global financial system."
The IMF chief also called for improved emergency response authority to financial crises.
He recalled that in the global economic crisis, key emerging market economies seeking financial lifelines had not turned to the Fund as the "first responder," but instead approached the US Federal Reserve and other central banks.
"But what assurances do we have that they would be willing and able to provide such liquidity support in the future? We should not take this support for granted," he said.

National

Increase in population, corruption stumbling blocks to dev: PM

UNB, Gazipur

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Sunday asked for engaging the Ansar-VDP auxiliary force in population control, curbing corruption and rooting out militancy and religious extremism.
She termed unplanned increase in the population and corruption as the two biggest stumbling-blocks to government efforts for expediting country's development. Addressing the parade function and the officers of the duo auxiliary law-enforcing agencies separately on the occasion of their 30th national rally at Shafipur Ansar Academy, the Prime Minister urged the force to encourage people to keep their families small and raise mass awareness against the menace of corruption. Five Ansar and VDP members were awarded at the annual function for their heroic contributions to maintaining law and order in the country.
The awarded Ansar and VDP men are Md. Mojammel Mollah (Bangladesh Ansar Padak-posthumous), Md. Nazrul Islam Khan (Bangladesh VDP Padak), Md. Sharif Uddin (President Ansar Padak), Md. Nawshad Ali (President Ansar Padak- posthumous) and Md. Eklasur Rahman (President Ansar Padak-posthumous).
Hasina at the parade function said as members of a trained and well-organized force, Ansar-VDP members could play an important role in forming planned families by way of checking population boom. "You will keep your families small and at the same time encourage the people to do so," she told her audience. Later, while addressing the Ansar and Village Defense Party (VDP) officers separately, urged the twin-force's members to keep vigilance on militancy and religious extremism. She said the Ansar-VDP members can play an outstanding role in facing the threat of militancy and religious fanaticism by creating awareness among the masses.
Hasina deplored that an anti-people vested quarter is confusing people by misinterpreting Islam, a religion of peace. "Over 50 lakh members of the Ansar and VDP are working across the country on voluntary basis. You raise awareness among the the mass people about the vested quarter's misinterpretation of Islam," she told the officers.
Earlier on her arrival at the parade ground, the Prime Minister was received by Home Minister Advocate Sahara Khatun and State Minister for Home Affairs Advocate Shamsul Haque Tuku.
A smartly turned-out contingent of Ansar and VDP presented guard of honor to the Prime Minister and she took the ceremonial salute. She also inspected the parade riding a well-decorated open jeep. Director-General of Bangladesh Ansar and VDP Major General Md. Rafiqul Islam and Parade Commander Md. Fakhrul Islam accompanied the Prime Minister. Several hundred members of Ansar and VDP presented spectacular display and cultural programmes portraying the historic moments of 1971 liberation war.
Hasina told the parade function that an unchecked increase in population is the biggest obstacle to all development efforts in Bangladesh as 15 crore people huddle for a living in a small land of the country. The Prime Minister also announced that the government is going to give Ansar and VDP "specific" task so that the force members can make best use of their capacity and skill.

  Prices of commodities rise, tobacco remain stable in 20 yrs
BSS, Dhaka

The country has experienced a regular rise of commodity prices in the last 20 years while the prices of tobacco products remained almost stable during the period, anti- smoking campaigners said on Saturday.
The campaigners in a sit-in programme in city's Shahbagh area said the tobacco companies have been exploiting the youths to become smokers taking full advantage of 'comparatively low price' of cigarettes and 'Bidi', a locally manufactured high- nicotine cigars.
They, however, could not give details of the price escalation of 20 years, but official statistics show that cereal price, especially staple rice, alone has almost doubled in 2008, pushing millions in hardship to meals twice a day.
"So it has become imperative to raise taxes on tobacco products substantially to discourage youths to smoke," Rafiqul Islam Milon, president of Manobik, told the rally that attracted a big crowd to say 'no' to smoking.
A number of organizations including Unnayan Sumonnoy, WBB Trust, SARDA, Manob Unnayan Sangstha, SASTER and Manobik took part in the programme.
Milon said the poor smokers, who usually smoke low cost 'Bidi', smoke out Taka eight crore everyday in the country, where still more than 40 percent people live less a dollar a day of income.
Referring to a study, he said each of the poor smokers was found to spending 4.5 percent of his income or Taka eight per day for smoking purposes.
"Smoking causes a serious income erosion to the poor people," he said, adding that more than Taka 3,000 crore are being spend by the poor people for smoking round the year. But this amount could ensure a glass of milk and an egg to 5.3 million poor children, most of whom are malnourished.
The anti-smoking campaigners said the government should impose a high tax on 'Bidi', cigarettes, cigars and chewing tobacco products so that the companies could not allure people to tobacco consumption due to low cost.
They said tobacco consumption not only leading many towards premature deaths due to various diseases, including cancer, but also causing major havoc to economy and environment.
They also proposed for a 20 percent year-on-year rise of taxes on all tobacco products in next (2010-2011FY) national budget and formulate a policy to look after the tax rise on smoking products.

 Dy Speaker urges private organizations to help disabled people

BSS, Dhaka

Deputy Speaker Col (retd) Shawkat Ali has urged the private organizations to come forward to extend their helping hands for the development of physically challenged people.
The government could not alone solve the problems of the disabled people, he told a discussion on the occasion of the Holy Eid-e-Miladunnabi organized by the Institute of Hazrat Mohammad(SAW) at a city hotel Saturday night.
Lawmaker Shahin Monowara Haque, Indonesian Ambassador to Bangladesh Zet Mirzal Zainuddin, Iranian Ambassador to Bangladesh Hassan Farazandeh, High Commissioner of Pakistan to Bangladesh Ahmed A Qureshi and Myanmar Ambassador to Bangladesh U Phae Thann Oo, among others, addressed the function with President of the Institute of Lt Gen(retd) M Nooruddin Khan in the chair.
Director, Administration of the Institute Barrister Rizwana Yusuf, was also present on the occasion.
Shawkat questioned why somebody would enjoy normal life and somebody enjoy abnormal life?
The people with disability has an immense potentials to contribute to the different fields of development, he said adding private organizations should help them to explore their potentials so that they could lead their life like normal people.
Shahin Monowara said the present government is giving special priority to the disabled people to bring them in the mainstream of society. She said the government will set up training institutes for disabled persons at different parts of the country to make them skilled human resources. She also reiterated the need for ensuring education to the physically challenged youths so that they can lead their life in a dignified manner.
Describing Islam as a complete code of conduct, other speakers said Islam has given special importance to ensure rights to the disabled people. So all should stand beside the disabled persons with love and sympathy, they added.
The discussion was followed by a prize giving ceremony of an essay competition for visually impaired students from schools, colleges and universities of the country. The deputy speaker distributed prizes among the winners.

  MoFA rejects EU statement on CHT incidents
BSS, Dhaka

The government on Saturday outright rejected the observation of the European Union (EU) in a statement issued on recent incidents of Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT).
Terming the observation of the EU as baseless and unfounded, a release of Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) said such statement would not help the process of implementing the CHT Peace Treaty.
Rather, such statement would encourage those who chose to instigate instability in the CHT, The MoFA said adding Bangladesh expects the EU to act responsibly and in a constructive manner.
Saying the EU statement as an unfortunate one, the MoFA said, the initial consideration of the EU (prima facie), it is not based on any actual fact-finding exercise on the part of EU or any consultation with the Government of Bangladesh. As such, it does not offer any corroborating evidence in support of the allegations raised.
It said the government draws attention to the fact that- it was the Awami League government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, in her previous term, that took the bold step to conclude the CHT Peace Accord in order to bring back peace, security and stability in the area.
The present government, after assuming office in January last year, made no delay in resuming the process of full implementation of the Accord.
As part of this process, a good number of military camps were withdrawn from the hill districts, the functioning of the CHT Land Commission was reinvigorated, and more power and tasks were transferred to CHT local councils.
The government attaches special emphasis on the socio- economic development of the people living in the CHT, with particular focus on the marginal and vulnerable groups, specially the ethnic minorities, it said.
Cases have been lodged and police have arrested suspected perpetrators following the incidents of February 19 and 20. The government has also provided house-building and other relief material for affected families as well as cash allowances.
The government has taken steps to promote harmony and understanding between the communities in the CHT following which several widely participated solidarity rallies were also held in the hill districts, it said. Bangladesh government wishes to reiterate its commitment to 'zero tolerance' against impunity.
Persons found responsible for instigating or committing acts of violence on February 19 and 20 in the CHT, will be brought to book.

  US Frigate Ingraham arrives in Bangladesh today
UNB, Dhaka

The guided missile frigate USS Ingraham (FFG-61) will make a port call in Chittagong for training Bangladesh Navy March 1-3 on new naval exercises, aimed at strengthening Bangladesh's and regional security.
During the port call, the crew will also participate in various local cultural activities, professional military-to-military exchanges with the Bangladesh Navy and community-service projects as coordinated by the U.S. Embassy, said an announcement Sunday.
"Bangladesh is preparing to launch its ship-based helicopter program, and USS Ingraham will have the opportunity to train with the Bangladesh Navy Sailors and pilots who will be responsible for operating helicopters on their ships," said Cmdr. Adam J. Welter, Ingraham's commanding officer.
"One of the best aspects of what we do is working alongside our international counterparts, getting to know Sailors from around the world and seeing where they live and how they operate and sharing with them how we operate," said the American naval commander.
The whole crew is looking forward to this visit and the valuable opportunity to strengthen the relationship between the U.S. Navy and the Bangladeshi military.
"This visit is the latest in a series of port calls by U.S. Navy ships and demonstrates the United States Government's commitment to Bangladesh and to regional security by expanding relationships throughout Asia and the Pacific," said the release.

  Breastfeeding can cut 13 pc infant deaths
BSS, Dhaka

Experts at a coordination meeting here on Sunday said exclusive breastfeeding and recommended complimentary feeding practices could prevent 13 percent death of children aged less than five years.
Quoting a recent UNICEF study, they said country's 2.44 lakh children under five years die of various diseases every year and out of them 1.20 lakh die within 28 days of their birth of diarrhoea and pneumonia as a result of malnutrition.
They also said the malnutrition is solely responsible for the ignorance of exclusive breastfeeding and recommended complimentary feeding practices among poor mothers.
BRAC, a leading NGO, organized the monthly coordination meeting at Dhulaipur of Jatrabari in the city. The meeting was held under a campaign styled 'Alive and Thrive program' that was launched recently for creating awareness against malnutrition.

   Climate change can make tigers extinct
BSS, Dhaka

The Royal Bengal Tigers, one of the world's largest big cat populations, could disappear by the end of this century as rising sea levels caused by climate change destroy their habitat along the Sunderbans coast, according to a new WWF-led study published in the journal Climatic Change.
Tigers are among the world's most threatened species, with only an estimated 3,200 remaining in the world, including 400 plus in Bangladesh and India, said officials of the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF).
They said the threats facing the Royal Bengal tigers and other iconic species around the world highlight the need for urgent international action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
"It's disheartening to imagine that the Sundarbans - which means 'beautiful forest' in Bangla - could be gone this century, along with its tigers," said Colby Loucks, WWF-US deputy director of conservation science and the lead author of the study Sea Level Rise and Tigers: Predicted Impacts to Bangladesh's Sundarbans Mangroves.
"If we don't take steps to address the impacts of climate change on the Sundarbans, the only way its tigers will survive this century is with scuba gear," he added.
"The projected sea level rise in the Sundarbans will likely outpace the tiger's ability to adapt," says the WWF, a UK based wildlife conservation agency. An expected sea level rise of 28 cm above year 2000 levels may cause the remaining tiger habitat in the Sundarbans to decline by 96 percent, pushing the total population to fewer than 20 breeding tigers, according to the study. Unless immediate action is taken, the Sundarbans, its wildlife and the natural resources that sustain millions of people may disappear within 50 to 90 years, the study states.
"The mangrove forest of the Bengal tiger now joins the sea- ice of the polar bear as one of the habitats most immediately threatened as global temperatures rise during the course of this century," said Keya Chatterjee, acting director of the WWF-US climate change program. "To avert an ecological catastrophe on a much larger scale, we must sharply reduce greenhouse gas emissions and prepare for the impacts of climate change we failed to avoid." The Sundarbans, a UNESCO World Heritage Site shared by India and Bangladesh at the mouth of the Ganges River, is the world's largest single block of mangrove forest.
Providing the habitat for between 250 and 400 tigers, the Sundarbans is also home to more than 50 reptile species, 120 commercial fish species, 300 bird species and 45 mammal species. While their exact numbers are unclear, the tigers living in the Sundarbans of India and Bangladesh may represent as many as 10 percent of all the remaining wild tigers worldwide. Using the rates of sea level rise projected by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in its Fourth Assessment Report (2007), the study's authors wrote that a 28 cm sea level rise may be realized around 2070, at which point tigers will be unlikely to survive in the Sundarbans.
However, recent research suggests that the seas may rise even more swiftly than what was predicted in the 2007 IPCC assessment. In addition to climate change, the Sundarbans tigers, like other tiger populations around the world already face tremendous threats from poaching and habitat loss.
Tiger ranges have decreased by 40 percent over the past decade, and tigers on Sunday occupy less than seven percent of their original range. Scientists fear that accelerating deforestation and rampant poaching could push some tiger populations to the same fate as their now-extinct Javan and Balinese relatives in other parts of Asia.
Tigers are poached for their highly prized skins and body parts, which are used in traditional Chinese medicine.
The 2010 Year of the Tiger will mark an important year for conservation efforts to save wild tigers, with WWF continuing to play a vital role in implementing bold new strategies to save this magnificent Asian big cat.
The study also recommended that the government and natural resource managers should take immediate steps to conserve and expand mangroves while preventing poaching and retaliatory killing of tigers.

  US to train Bangladesh officials in counter-terrorism
BSS, Dhaka

The government of the United States of America (USA) is ready to impart training to Bangladeshi security officials and provide all sorts of technological assistance in countering terrorism.
Rear Admiral Sean Pypen, Coordinator for Countering Terrorism and Operations in the Asia Pacific Region of the US government, said this on Sunday while discussing countering terrorism in Bangladesh with senior officials of the Home Ministry.
Md Kamal Uddin, Joint Secretary for Political Affairs of the Home Ministry, led the Bangladesh side comprising senior officials of Bangladesh Coast Guard, Bangladesh Navy, Bangladesh Police and Rapid Action Battalion (RAB).
"We have pointed out the government initiatives for countering terrorism in Bangladesh to the delegation and the US delegation appreciated our steps," Kamal Uddin told BSS.

 6-day series of community radio workshops begin in city today

UNB, Dhaka

A six-day series of community radio workshops, organized by AMIC/UNB/NIMCO with the collaboration of UNESCO/Tambuli Foundation, kicks off today (Monday) at 9:30 am in the city.
Information and Cultural Affairs Minister Abul Kalam Azad will formally inaugurate the programme as chief guest at the UNB auditorium.
Chaired by UNB chairman Amanullah Khan, the function will be attended by Information Secretary Dr Kamal Abul Nasser Chowdhury and DG of NIMCO Makbul Ahmed as special guest and guest of honour respectively.
As part of the series, three separate workshops will be held in UNB and NIMCO training rooms, which are respectively designed for policymakers, station managers and trainers in community radio. About 18 participants will take part in each workshop.
These workshops will be part of an ongoing process on a long-term basis. The workshops aim at training and capacity building of the stakeholders in community radio, which has been opened up for licenses/permits following the unveiling by the government of The Community Radio Installation, Broadcast and Operation Policy 2008.
Dr Kaling Seneviratne, Head of Research of AMIC, and Louie Tabing, founder of Tambuli Community Radio in the Philippines and a World Bank consultant, will be the workshop facilitators.
Another two-day workshop on 'news feature writing' will also be held in the UNB auditorium on March 2 and 3 (Tuesday-Wed-nesday). The workshop is designed for mid-level journalists mainly in the print media and news agencies.

Sports

Tamim lifts Bangladesh to 228
AFP, Dhaka

Tamim Iqbal cracked an impressive century to help Bangladesh post a competitive 228 against England in the opening one-day international on Sunday.
The left-handed opener made the tourists pay dearly for letting him off early in his innings, hitting three sixes and 13 fours in a 120-ball 125 for his third one-day century.
Iqbal, who was on 10 when dropped by Eoin Morgan in the covers off paceman Ryan Sidebottom, paced his innings remarkably well on a slow pitch before becoming the ninth man to be dismissed, bowled by fast bowler Stuart Broad.
He was involved in two useful stands, adding 63 for the opening wicket with Imrul Kayes (15) and as many runs for the seventh with Naeem Islam (25).
England did well to restrict the hosts despite Iqbal's century, with off-spinner Graeme Swann being the most impressive bowler with 3-32 off 10 tight overs.
Iqbal did not curb his strokes after being dropped as he hit a four off Sidebottom and then a six over long-on in the same over.
Sidebottom, giving away 21 runs in his opening three overs, was replaced with Broad who was also punished by the Bangladeshi opener in his first spell.
Iqbal smashed Broad for two successive fours and then a six over mid-wicket in the same over before racing to his half-century off just 32 balls.
England broke the opening-wicket stand when seamer Tim Bresnan deceived Kayes with a slower ball, with Luke Wright holding the leading edge at mid-on.
Broad had Junaid Siddiqui caught by debutant Craig Kieswetter at square-leg for no score before Kevin Pietersen ran Aftab Ahmed out, hitting the stumps at the non-striker's end from mid-on.
When Swann had skipper Shakib Al Hasan (12) caught by wicket-keeper Matt Prior, Bangladesh slipped from 63-0 to 112-4.
Mushfiqur Rahim (22) looked like steadying the innings with Iqbal, but was run out just when his team needed a big partnership to boost their hopes of setting a stiff target in the day-night match.
Bangladesh
Tamim b Broad 125
Imrul c Wright b Bresnan 15
Junaid c Kieswetter b Broad 0
Aftab run out 2
Shakib c Prior b Swann 12
Mushfiq run out 22
Mahmudullah c Colling-wood b Swann 0
Naeem c Morgan b Wright 25
Mashrafe lbw b Swann 4
Razzak c Cook b Sidebottom 2
Shafiul Islam not out 11
Extras: (lb4, nb1, w5) 10
Total: (for all out; 45.4 overs) 228
Falls: 1-63 (Kayes), 2-71 (Siddiqui), 3-82 (Ahmed), 4-112 (Shakib), 5-146 (Rahim), 6-146 (Mah-mudullah), 7-209 (Naeem), 8-214 (Mortaza), 9-214 (Iqbal), 10-228 (Razzak).
Bowling: Sidebottom 7.4-0-46-1 (w2), Bresnan 9-0-48-1 (nb1, w2), Broad 9-2-46-2 (w1), Swann 10-0-32-3, Collingwood 7-1-39-0, Pietersen 2-0-9-0, Wright 1-0-4-1.
Toss: England
Umpires: Rod Tucker (AUS) and Nadir Shah (BAN)
TV umpire: Sharfuddoula Shahid (BAN)
Match referee: Jeff Crowe (NZL).

  Djokovic defends ATP Dubai title
AFP, Dubai

Novak Djokovic of Serbia won the weather-hit ATP Dubai Open on Sunday, defeating Russia's Mikhail Youzhny 7-5, 5-7, 6-3 in a roller coaster of a final.
The match had been held over from Saturday because of heavy rain with defending champion Djokovic 7-5, 2-0 ahead.
At that stage the second seeded Serb had appeared to be coasting to his first ever defence of an ATP title when the first rain seen in the Emirates since early January sent players and fans alike scampering for cover. But all that changed when the two players got back on court in hot, sunny conditions on Sunday.
Youzhny first of all broke back to level at 4-4 and then, helped by two Djokovic double faults, he put himself into position to serve for the second set.
The frustrated Serb was warned for racquet abuse at the changeover but his display of temper appeared to help him refocus as he broke back in the following game to level at 5-5.
Once again though the Djokovic serve failed to function and he was broken to love on the back of three unforced errors.
This time Youzhny, who beat Djokovic in the Rotterdam semi-finals two weeks ago, made no mistake, holding his own serve to love to level the set scores. Djokovic regained the initiative at the start of the deciding set, breaking Youzhny's serve with a big forehand down the line in the second game as he moved out into a 3-0 lead.
But once again the Russian dug deep to break back two games later, drawing level once more at 3-3.
Youzhny had a break point to go 4-3 up, but blasted wide with a cross-court forehand as Djokovic looked to be out of the rally.
The Russian paid the full price in the following game when two unforced errors gave Djokovic two break points and he converted the second of those when Youzhny hit a forehand long after an energy-sapping rally.
Djokovic comfortably served out to clinch his first title win of the year and consolidate his world number two ranking behind Roger Federer.

  Bangladesh League football competitions resume today
TBT report

Bangladesh League football competitions resume today at Bangabandhu National Stadium in the city with the match between defending champion Dhaka Abahani and Brothers Union.
The league was suspended on January 9 due to the 11th South Asian Games and the AFC Challenge Cup football championship.
Dhaka Abahani and Dhaka Mohammedan Sporting Club are leading the table with 24 points each from eight matches. Sheikh Russel Krira Chakra remains in third place with 22 points, while Brothers Union is sitting fourth with 10 points after the same number of matches.

  Ratna, Sadia return home
TBT report

Celebrated shooter duo Sharmin Akhter Ratna and Syeda Sadia Sultana return home on Sunday after winning gold in the women's 10 metre Air Rifle team event in the 8th Commonwealth Shooting Championship.
Ratna (396) and Sadia (394) scored a total of 790 to set a new record in this event recently in the Indian capital New Delhi.
India and England won silver and bronze medals in the women's 10 metre Air Rifle team event respectively.

   Miyazato wins in Singapore golf
AFP, Singapore

Japan's Ai Miyazato Sunday won the 1.3-million-dollar HSBC Women's Champions tournament in Singapore to continue her sparkling start to the USLPGA season with a second straight title.
Miyazato, the joint overnight leader with American Juli Inkster, posted a 69 for a 10-under total of 278 for the tournament and took home the winner's cheque of 195,000 dollars.
It was a topsy-turvy ride to the title as the Japanese star bogeyed the first and second hole before finding her range with birdies in the fourth, fifth and ninth holes in the front nine.
In the back nine she bogeyed the tenth hole but followed it up with three straight birdies to briefly take a one-shot lead over a pack of contenders.
Miyazato's win in Singapore capped a fine start for the 24-year-old who won the season opener in Thailand last week. "Well I was really calm this morning but you know, sometimes like when you play calm, it's not going to happen," said Miyazato.
"So I stepped back after my bogey (in) the first two holes and I didn't really control myself after that.
"So it was really a long day... So it was tough but I'm just happy to win."
On how she held her nerve to make three straight birdies in the back nine, Miyazato said: "I'm just trying to concentrate on the moment on my stroke and I also focus on trying to keep a low centre of gravity."
A crucial birdie putt at the 16th hole gave Miyazato the lead again as she went 10-under when American Cristie Kerr bogeyed the 17th to drop to nine-under. Kerr, who had been solid all day, threatened but saw her chance of lifting the trophy slip away when she bogeyed the 17th and 18th to finish two shots behind the winner at eight-under for a total of 280.
"For sure, I played my heart out today," said Kerr.
"Seventeen was tough but you know, I kind of just kept the bad momentum going and just kind of made a bad decision. "You live and learn, I guess." Kerr, ranked sixth in the world, said she was keeping her chin up despite coming so near to winning the title only to falter in the final moments.

  Barcelona back on top
AFP, Madrid

Argentine Lionel Messi scored a vital 83rd minute winner as Barcelona pushed Real Madrid off the Spanish league summit with a nervy 2-1 win over Malaga at Camp Nou on Saturday.
Real Madrid's convincing 5-1 win at Tenerife earlier on Saturday had nudged Barcelona into second but the treble winners responded with a gritty victory to re-establish their two-point lead at the top.
Pedro Rodriguez, 22, had put Barca ahead on 68 minutes on his 50th appearance for the club but substitute Valmiro Valdo equalised on 80 minutes to stun the champions.
However, three minutes later Xavi released Dani Alves who laid the ball back for Messi to score his 17th goal of the season and move level with Valencia's David Villa at the top of the goalscoring charts.
"It was a difficult game for us although we should have scored more goals," said Messi. "It was a vital win and we have to keep on getting the three points as (Real) Madrid are doing well."
Earlier Real followed up their 6-2 thrashing of Villarreal last time out with a 5-1 win at strugglers Tenerife on Saturday to go top of the table for the first time in three months although Barca ensured it was a brief stay.
Argentine Gonzalo Higuain took his season's tally to 16 following a first half brace before Brazilian Kaka, Cristiano Ronaldo and substitute Raul netted to make it 10 goals in two games. "I am really happy with how the team is working as a whole and within the team we have various players that can make the difference," said coach Manuel Pellegrini.
Barcelona were under pressure to respond and welcomed back Alves after a month out with a calf strain. Sergio Duda tested Victor Valdes with an early free-kick but Barca seized control and Messi went close on 13 minutes only to be denied by a late block by defender Weligton.
Brazilian Weligton was jeered by the Camp Nou fans as they recalled his stamp on Messi when the two sides met in September.
It was wave after wave of Barca attacks with Zlatan Ibrahimovic whistling a free-kick past the post from long range before Messi danced around Weligton only to chip over with his weaker right foot. An audacious flicked effort from Xavi with his heel was then tipped over by Gustavo Munua on 36 minutes. Sergi Busquets, Messi and Andres Iniesta all went close but Malaga held on for a 0-0 at the interval.
Ibrahimovic went close with two headers in the second half before Pedro finally broke the deadlock on 68 minutes thundering a right-footed shot into the bottom corner for his seventh goal of the season.
Iniesta hit the crossbar before Valdo struck a shock equaliser on the counter attack with 10 minutes left.
However, a briliant move started by Xavi released Alves who put the ball on a plate for Messi to roll in the winner. Tenerife's Heliodoro Rodriguez Lopez stadium held painful memories for Real Madrid who famously lost consecutive league titles at the venue on the final days of the season in both 1992 and 1993.
With 19 minutes gone Higuain got the opener for Real latching onto a Marcelo pass before drilling in a left-footed shot.
Higuain then produced another great finish on 41 minutes side-footing in brilliantly after a pass from Garay to make it 10 goals in his last seven league outings. Tenerife levelled a minute after the break but two minutes later Real re-established their two-goal cushion with Higuain feeding Kaka who made no mistake sliding the ball home.

  Pakistani woman races from rags to riches
AFP, Karachi

It took Pakistani athlete Naseem Hamid just 11.81 seconds to change her life and become the fastest woman in South Asia.
She ran to victory in the 100 metres in the South Asian Federation (SAF) Games in Bangladesh, becoming Pakistan's first woman to sprint to gold in the championship's 26-year history and shooting from rags to riches.
"It still hasn't sunk in," said 23-year-old Naseem, who received a rapturous welcome home. Cash prizes worth millions of rupees poured in from President Asif Ali Zardari and businessmen, and parliament promised her a bigger house.
Brought up in humble surroundings, Naseem comes from a one-room house in the Korangi slum area of Karachi. She was never discouraged by her impoverished background, but nor did she like it mentioned.
It only came to light when television channels rushed to find her house when she rose from nowhere to success in Dhaka.
"I asked my coach Maqsood Ahmed to pinch me so I realise it's not a dream," she reminisced after the February 7 race. "For the first 30 minutes it felt like a dream and what followed is also a dream."
Growing up, Naseem knew little of fairytales.
She watched her father Hameed Ahmed struggle to make ends meet on daily wages as a labourer. At times, the family had little to live on.
Undaunted, Naseem forgot her problems once she entered the world of sport, where only the best, and not the rich, excel.
She started an athletics career and soon became the driving force in the family, earning 9,000 rupees (104 dollars) a month after being recruited into the Pakistan army's sports section three years ago.
"I used to forget all the problems when I ran on the track," said Naseem.
The family could not afford proper running shoes, so Naseem ran bare foot. But she had the sprint to succeed and was talent spotted by physical education teacher Abida Ahmed at her Korangi college.
"I knew Naseem was destined for bigger successes," said Abida. "Besides 100 and 200 metre races, Naseem also competed in the high jump and made us champions at inter-college level in 2005 and 2006."
Her sister Quratul Ain is a member of the women's football squad in southern province Sindh, while her only brother took up table tennis. Mother Nasreen has taken pride in her daughter's nerves of steel since she recovered from typhoid in childhood.
"Our relatives were against her going into sport but it was her will power that helped her stick to the game and attain such success," said Nasreen, whose home was mobbed by crowds of relatives after her daughter's win.
Part of Pakistan's bronze medallist 4x100m relay team in the 10th South Asian Games in Colombo in 2006, injury meant that four years ago Naseem had to watch her colleagues run the 100-metre race from the sidelines. But the sky holds no limits for Naseem.

   England upsets Australia in World Cup hockey
AFP, New Delhi

James Tindall scored two goals as a fired-up England stunned hot favourite Australia 3-2 in the men's field hockey World Cup on Sunday.
England's first World Cup win over the Kookaburras since 1975 gave a dramatic start to the latest edition in the Indian capital after Olympic silver-medallists Spain beat South Africa 4-2 in the opening match.
Australian captain Jamie Dwyer scored twice, including a penalty stroke, but Jason Lee's European champions played outstanding hockey to rattle their fancied opponents.
England had last beaten Australia at the 1975 World Cup in Malaysia, before losing seven straight games in the sport's showpiece tournament.
Dwyer's stroke in the 23rd minute put Australia ahead, but England drew level two minutes later through a penalty corner by Ashley Jackson.
Tindall then scored on either side of the break as England led 3-1 till four minutes before the final whistle when Dwyer narrowed the margin with a field goal.
Australia's Glenn Turner wasted two good chances near the end, while England's protest against a penalty corner being awarded to the Kookaburras in the last minute was upheld by the video umpire.
Australia paid dearly for converting just one of their 13 penalty corners in the match.
Australia and England are drawn in group B alongside Spain, South Korea, India and Pakistan, with two teams advancing to the semi-finals.
Group A comprises defending champions Germany, the Netherlands, Argentina, Canada, South Korea and New Zealand.
The South Africans, ranked 13th in the world, stunned the number three Spaniards with the first goal in the 16th minute through a lightning strike by Julian Hykes.
Spain, who lost to Germany in the Beijing Olympics final, hit back with two goals in three minutes through Roc Oliva and David Alegre to take a 2-1 lead by the 21st minute.
The African champions, however, equalised five minutes before the break when Ian Haley pushed in a goal following a rebound off a penalty corner.
Spain returned after the interval to score through Rodrigo Garza, before Pau Quemada made it 4-2 with a stinging penalty corner hit.
The 12-nation tourna-ment began amid heavy security at the Dhyan Chand National Stadium in the Indian capital, with some 19,000 security personnel and 200 commandos on guard inside and outside the venue.

   England wins by six wickets
AFP, Dhaka

Paul Collingwood and Alastair Cook hit solid half-centuries to guide England to an emphatic six-wicket win over Bangladesh in the opening one-day interna-tional on Sunday.
Collingwood scored an unbeaten 75 and skipper Cook 64 as England surpassed Bangladesh's modest total of 228 with four overs to spare in the day-night match for a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
Tamim Iqbal earlier top-scored for Bangladesh with an attractive 120-ball 125 for his third one-day hundred, but his team still failed to set a stiff target.
Bangladesh introduced spin after just three overs on a slow pitch but Cook and debutant Craig Kieswetter (19) batted steadily to put on 73 for the opening wicket.
Off-spinner Naeem Islam (3-49) provided the breakthrough when he had Kieswetter stumped before left-arm spinner Shakib Al Hasan got a big wicket, having Kevin Pietersen (one) caught in the slips.
Cook's responsible knock ended when he was trapped leg-before by Naeem after hitting six fours in his fourth half-century in one-dayers.
England looked under pressure at 96-3 but Collingwood and Eoin Morgan (33) kept the spinners at bay with their sensible knocks, adding 88 for the fourth wicket.
Morgan, who survived a stumping chance on 20 off spinner Mohammad Mahmudullah, was caught by Aftab Ahmed in the covers off Naeem but not before consolidating his team's position.
Matt Prior remained unbeaten with 30.
Iqbal, who hit three sixes and 13 fours, was let off early in his innings after the hosts were put in to bat.
The left-handed opener, who was on 10 when dropped by Morgan in the covers off paceman Ryan Sidebottom, paced his innings remarkably well before becoming the ninth man to be dismissed, bowled by fast bowler Stuart Broad. He was involved in two useful stands, adding 63 for the opening wicket with Imrul Kayes (15) and as many runs for the seventh with Naeem (25).
England did well to restrict the hosts despite Iqbal's century, with off-spinner Graeme Swann being the most impressive bowler with 3-32 off 10 tight overs.
Iqbal did not curb his strokes after being dropped as he hit a four off Sidebottom and then a six over long-on in the same over. Sidebottom, giving away 21 runs in his opening three overs, was replaced with Broad who was also punished by the Bangladeshi opener in his first spell. Iqbal smashed Broad for two successive fours and then a six over mid-wicket in the same over before racing to his half-century off just 32 balls.