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Leading News
Speaker urges MPs not to make filthy, aggressive remarks
‘If you want to do wrestling go to Paltan in shorts
oiling your body’, he says
BSS, Sangsad Bhaban
Seeking cooperation of both the treasury and opposition
benches in running parliament smoothly, Speaker Abdul
Hamid Advocate Thursday urged them not to make any
unconstitutional, un-parliamentary, filthy and aggressive
remarks in this sacred place.
"If any lawmaker makes such speech, his or her microphone
will be switched off immediately," the Speaker warned at
the outset of the general discussion on the thanksgiving
motion on the President's speech.
Hamid also urged all lawmakers to extend their hands of
cooperation towards making the Jatiya Sangsad truly
effective to fulfill the hopes and aspirations of the
people.
Mentioning yesterday's incident in the JS as unexpected,
the Speaker said, "I earnestly hope that such incident
will not take place again in this holy place."
To this end, he said that many hard remarks could be
presented beautifully and in a soft tone. "But the image
of the holy parliament as well as that of the lawmakers
was tarnished due to use of un-parliamentary and filthy
languages in the House yesterday," he said and urged both
the benches to stay away from such remarks in future.
UNB adds: Irked by Wednesday night's pandemonium in
parliament, Speaker Abdul Hamid Thursday firmly told both
the government and the opposition lawmakers that he is
ready to quit rather than allow any un-parliamentary word
in the House.
In a rude reminder he said parliament is not the right
place for fistfight or wrestling, as the two sides traded
invectives and spoke ill of each other's paramount leaders
who were both slain long time ago.
"If you want to fight or do wrestling with each other,
please go to Paltan Maidan. Or you can also use the field
in front of the parliament for this purpose. You can go
there after rubbing oil on your body and wearing only
underwear," he said.
The Speaker said on swearing that he wants to uphold the
dignity of the House and maintain discipline. "If you
think there is no necessity of mine, I m ready to go but I
shall not allow any un-parliamentary word in the House,"
an apparently upset Hamid told the House.
City
faces acute water crisis
WASA MD claims stinking water also ‘pure and safe’
TBT Report
Residents in different areas of the capital Dhaka are
facing acute water crisis due to frequent load shedding,
drastic fall in ground water level, faulty distribution
pipelines and illegal connections.
Besides, the city dwellers are getting very small amount
of water which is spreading serious odors, causing
different types of skin diseases. The worst-affected areas
are Nayapaltan, Gulistan, Motijheel, Rampura, Magh-bazar,
Farmgate, Mirpur and other areas and different areas of
the old part of the capital. The residents of these areas
cannot take bath, wash clothes or do household work. While
talking to The Bangladesh Today, Taksim A Khan Managing
Director of WASA said a total of 13 percent of water are
being supplied from Sayedabad Water Treatment Plant while
87 percent of pure and safe water are being supplied from
ground level through setting up deep tube wells at
different parts of the capital.
According to the scope and nature of the Sayedabad Water
Treatment Plant, water of the Sheetalakhya River will be
changed for drinking form but there is no normal flow of
water in the river except the water which is coming from
different areas of the capital through drains. As a
result, Sayedabad plant's water is spreading odors.
Despite this, it is hundred percent pure and safe for
health as it is rectified through laboratory
experimentation, he said.
Taksim A Khan said project works of another pre-treatment
plant at Sayedabad is under way. This plant will restore
drainage water first and then it will be transmitted into
river water. Later, this river water will be changed into
drinkable water. If the project work is completed
successfully, sufferings of the city dwellers will be
reduced. It is expected that the work of the plant might
be completed within a year.
According to WASA sources, the city's one crore 36 lakh
and 50 thousand people need around 211 crore litres of
water will be supplied but it is supplying around 190
litres of water every day. The sources said a number of
modern hotels, shopping malls, restaurants and
multi-stored apartment are wasting huge amount of water
only for taking bath and toilet purpose. On the other
hand, a huge amount of water is being misused for
construction work and different industrial activities.
If the misuse of water is not stopped and rivers adjacent
to the capital are not protected from grabbers, the water
crisis will be intensified abnormally within a year, water
specialist Kazi Mohammed Sheesh told this correspondent.
Provide
services at doorsteps of common people: PM
She pledges to build digital BD by 2021
UNB, Dhaka
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday asked the public
servants in the administration and service sectors to
think in a newer way for providing services at the
doorsteps of the common people.
She gave the directive while inaugurating the first-ever
Digital Innovation Fair-2010 at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur
Rahman Novo Theatre in the city.
Hasina said that her government put importance on four
elements to establish a 'Digital Bangladesh'. These are:
human resource development through information technology,
involving people in government activities, providing
services at the doorsteps of people and increasing
productivity by using IT.
She said that the link of these four elements is the
people and her government's pledge to provide services to
them.
"That's why those who are leading the public
administration and service sectors have to rethink in a
new way. You've to find out how and in what process the
government could provide services to the 15 crore people.
We don't want people to come to the administration for
services; instead services should go to the doorsteps of
the people."
The Prime Minister asked the government officials to
ensure services to the people as per their need. She also
put emphasis on the optimum utilization of the limited
financial resources to involve the private sector in
providing government services. "The necessity and scope of
the use of information technology is recognized worldwide.
For this, the prerequisite is to change the mindset," she
said.
Hasina reiterated her pledge to build a 'Digital
Bangladesh by 2021' when the nation would celebrate the
golden jubilee of its independence and the birth centenary
of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur
Rahman in 2020.
"Our government is working hard to fulfill that pledge,"
she said, adding that that's why the government took the
information technology as the tool for 'Charter of
Change'.
The Prime Minister said her government wants to ensure
good governance, transparency and accountability by
utilizing information technology. "We want to ensure good
governance and wipe out corruption from the country by
utilizing the information technology." She added: "Our
government is the government of the people. Improving the
lot of the people is our main objective. We want to attain
this at any cost." She said that her government has
already formulated the ICT Act 2009 and approved the ICT
Policy 2009.
BNP says power tariff hike will hamper
production in industry, agriculture
TBT Report
BNP senior joint secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam
Alamgir yesterday said that the government's decision to
raise power tariff will seriously hamper the ongoing
growth of industries and agricultural production in the
country.
Demanding cancellation of the decision, he said the
government should take proper step to ensure uninterrupted
power supply in the country which will boost the
production in industry and agriculture sectors.
It may be pointed out that the government on March 2
announced the increased power tariff with a rise ranging
from 4-7.6 per cent which has been effective from March 1
this year.
In a statement Mirza Alamgir said, "though the country is
beset with acute load-shedding, the government is least
bothered about increasing the production of electricity.
And government's decision to hike the price of electricity
will create a bad impact on the lives of common people and
production of electricity based factories, industries and
agriculture too."
Expressing resentment over the decision, he said, when the
irrigation season of Boro cultivation has begun and when
the Secondary School Certificate examinees are engaged in
taking preparations for their examinations, the government
has raised the price of power instead of taking steps for
smooth supply of electricity.
DU syndicate polls held
UNB, Dhaka
Ruling Awami League and left leaning party backed Blue
Panel and main opposition BNP-Jamaat backed White Panel
Thursday shared six posts in Dhaka University's syndicate
election.
The Blue Panel has also won five out of the six posts in
the academic council and bagged the post in the finance
committee in the election held at the Nabab Nawab Ali
Chowdhury Senate Bhaban.
Blue Panel candidates Prof Dr MD Akteruzzman and Jannatul
Ferdaous bagged the posts of provost and lecturer, polling
572 and 565 votes.
White Panel's Prof Sadrul Amin, Dr Tajmeri Selima Akhter
Islam, M Lutfar Rahman, Dr MD Moinul Islam are elected in
dean, professor, associate and assistant professor
categories. They polled 562, 552, 556 and 552 votes
respectively.
In the academic council election, Blue Panel candidates Dr
Asraf Hossain, Dr Biman Chandra Barua and Dr Kamal Uddin
have won all the three associate professor posts by
polling 547, 526 and 555 votes.
The same panel's Dr Istiaque Moin Sayed and Suriya Akhter
and White Panel's MD Majharul Anwar have bagged the
assistant professor/lecturer posts. They won 557, 515 and
518 votes.
Dr Shamsuddin Ahmed of the Blue Panel has defeated his
rival by polling 558 votes for the sole post in the
finance committee.
SC rejects City Group’s stay pleas
UNB, Dhaka
The Appellate Division on Thursday cleared the way for
deputy commissioner of Narayanganj to conduct operation of
dismantling the unauthorized structures, including three
jetties, built by the City Group of Industries on the
river Sitalakhya, refusing to entertain the encroacher's
stay pleas.
Throwing away the City Group's stay pleas, the Appellate
Division of the Supreme Court asked the applicant to file
regular leave to appeal against the High Court order.
On February 23, a High Court division bench summarily
rejected the writ petition filed by the City Group of
Industries challenging a government notice asking them to
remove their unauthorized structures, including three
jetties, from the river Sitalakhya. After the day's apex
court order, there remains no bar in demolishing the
jetties and other structures built by the City Group of
Industries on the bank of the river Sitalakhya at Rupganj
in Narayanganj. On February 9, Narayanganj DC served the
notice to the managing director of City Group of
Industries to remove their unauthorized structures from
the Sitalakhya by February 20, following an earlier HC
verdict regarding environment protection.
Earlier, on January 24 this year, the HC upon a petition
filed by Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB),
directed the government to start demolition of all illegal
structures built within the boundaries of four rivers-Buriganga,
Balu, Sitalakkhya and Turag -- around the capital.
Muggers injure three men, loot Tk 69 lakh in
Narsingdi
UNB, Narsingdi
Muggers shot and wounded an official of Tharmex Group of
Industries and looted Tk 69 lakh at Bandardia on Dhaka-Monohardi
road Thursday afternoon.
Manager Zahidul Hasan of the Group who was wounded by
bullet narrating the incident to police said he and two
other employees withdrew about Tk 2.5 crore from the Court
Building branch of Sonali Bank for payment of salary to
workers and employees. After payment in some factories at
Shibpur they were going in a microbus to another unit of
the Group at Panchkandi of Monohardi upazila.
On way, a private car intercepted them at about 3-30pm and
the muggers coming out of the car attacked them with axe,
chapatti and rod, broke window pans of the vehicle leaving
two employees badly wounded.
Sharp came another mugger in a motorbike and fired from
pistol wounding him. The muggers took away the sack full
of money from the microbus. They changed number plates of
the car and motorbike and speeded away towards Dhaka,
added manager Hasan.
He narrated the incident in presence Kadir Mollah, owner
of Thermax Group. A case was filed but police could not
arrest any of the muggers till late in the evening.
Back Page
HC quashes 3 Novo Theatre graft
cases against Hasina
UNB, Dhaka
The High Court Thursday crapped three graft cases against
incumbent Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina concerning the
construction of Bangabandhu Novo Theatre as the
anti-corruption watchdog took the wrong way round in suing
the top politician.
In its judgment the court declared "illegal" Anti-Corr-uption
Commission chairman's approval of investigation and the
filing of the charge sheet of the cases by an
anti-corruption officer, without following the due course
of law.
During the past BNP-Jamaat alliance rule, the now-defunct
Bureau of Anti-Corruption (BAC) had filed the three cases
with Tejgaon police station on March 27, 2002, accusing
Hasina and some of her cabinet members of committing
corruption and irregularities in the Novo Theatre project
during her previous tenure.
With a view to molding the mind of the people as
science-oriented, the Awami League government during
(1996-2001) period built the Novo Theatre with most modern
architectural looks in the capital where planetarium show,
Ride Simulator, 3-D film show and some scientific exhibits
are displayed.
The project was established by the Ministry of Science and
Information Communication Technology with an expenditure
of over Tk 123 crore which was provided entirely from the
state coffers. Delivering the judgment upon a writ
petition filed by Sheikh Hasina, a division bench
comprising Justice AHM Shamsuddin Chowdhury and Justice
Borhan Uddin made its rule issued earlier absolute.
On October 27, 2005, the High Court upon Hasina'a petition
stayed the operation of the approval given by the
Anti-Corruption Commission chairman for the investigation
into the three cases of corruption against the then former
PM, Sheikh Hasina.
In August 24, 2005, after dissolving the BAC, the newly
constituted ACC revived the cases from the shelf.
The HC in its observation termed mala fide and politically
motivated the action of the ACC chairman in initiating the
cases as the ACC boss alone does not have the jurisdiction
in this regard since the Commission is a composite body.
The court dubbed the litigation process an attempt to
malign the popularity of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
US reveals $210 m
feeding recipe for Bangladesh
Plans to expand investment in agriculture, health
UNB, Dhaka
The United States will launch a US$210 million recipe for
feeding the poorest and most vulnerable people in
Bangl-adesh under a greater food-security agenda.
US Ambassador James F Moriarty unveiled the plan and the
allocation at a national seminar on 'Impact of Food
Security Programs in Bangladesh' at a city hotel Thursday.
"Last July, president Obama (Barrack Obama) committed US$
one billion a year to address global hunger and food
security through his new Feed the Future initiative. This
year, through USAID, we will launch a 210 million US
dollar program to address food insecurity among the
poorest and most vulnerable people in Bangladesh," he
said. The US envoy further announced that they would
expand their investments in agriculture and health to work
hand in hand with the government of Bangladesh and other
development partners to meet food insecurity head-on and
solve this problem once and for all.
Mentioning that Bangladesh has made tremendous pro-gress
in improving the food security of its people, he said, "We
have witnessed remarkable gains in agriculture
productivity, to the point where Bangladesh is now almost
self-sufficient in rice."
Despite these successes, the US ambassador thinks that
Bangladesh remains vulnerable to a variety of internal and
external forces.
"There is still a great deal to be done to improve the
economic status and standard of living, especially for the
poorest and most disadvantaged," he said.
Organized jointly by the Local Government Division, LGRD
Ministry and USAID, the seminar was also addressed by LGRD
Minister Syed Ashraful Islam, Food and Disaster Management
Minister Dr. M Abdur Razzak, Save the Children USA
vice-president Diana Myers and Care Chief of Staff Joseph
J Larocci. USAID Mission Director Denise Rollins made the
welcome address.
Speaking on the occasion as chief guest, LGRD Minister
Ashraful Islam said SHOUHARDO (CARE) and JIBON-O-JIBIKA
(Save the Children USA) programmes have successfully
created significant impact on enhancing food security,
serving socioeconomic development, empowering women,
developing good governance in social system, improving
nutritional status and coping with disaster.
CARE Bangladesh (SHOUHARDO) and Save the Children USA (JIBON-O-JIBIKA)
are implementing different programs on livelihoods and
governance, empowerment, humanitarian assistance, reducing
food security, emergency preparedness and response, use of
technology, food security, nutrition and health.
People dreaming over
harmony with India: Dipu Moni
Govt failed to protect country’s interest: Reaz Rahman
UNB, Dhaka
Foreign Minister Dipu Moni Thursday said the people have
begun to dream a big dream after the establishment of a
harmonious and friendly relationship with India through
the landmark Delhi visit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
'We've been able to make the people see dreams. This is
our success..," she told a roundtable on Bangladesh-India
economic cooperation at CIRDAP auditorium in the city,
drawing a sharp rebuttal from an opponent, though.
Harshly criticizing the visit of Prime Minister Sheikh
Hasina, opposition BNP leader and former foreign secretary
Reaz Rahman said at the function that the purpose of
transhipment provided to India through an accord is not to
promote business.
"Rather the main purpose is to use Bangladesh as a
corridor to enhance the movement of Indian personnel from
its western side into the east," he said.
Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), a think-tank, organized
the roundtable titled 'Advancing Bangladesh-India Economic
Cooperation:
Modalities and Challenges' with noted economist Dr. Rehman
Sobhan in the chair.
CPD Executive Director Prof Mustafizur Rahman and former
UN-ESCAP Transport Director Dr. M Rahmatullah presented
two separate keynotes on the topic.
Prime Minister's Adviser Mashiur Rahman, Indian High
Commissioner in Dhaka Rajit Mitra, Metropolitan Chamber
President Anisud-dowlah and FBCCI Director Manjur Ahmed
also spoke at the function.
Dipu Moni said that the agreements with neighboring India
should be seen with a positive outlook as all the
unresolved issues are tried to be resolved through the
Prime Minister's tour.
"This has yielded a win-win situation for both Bangladesh
and India and also for all in the region. We have been
able to come out of the narrow mentality towards a broad
attitude," she told her audience. Responding to Reaz
Rahman's criticism that there is ambiguity in the joint
communiqe about access of Nepal and Bhutan to
Bangla-desh's seaports, the foreign minister said this
communiqe is much better compared to the one published
after the visit of the then prime minister (Khaleda Zia)
in '92 and 2006.
"I feel ashamed if I want to compare between the two joint
communiqes," she said, adding that there was no substance
in the communiqes in 92 and 2006.
She alleged that BNP is trying to create confusion about
the transhipment issue out of political compulsions.
Reaz Rahman said the government has totally failed to
protect the interests of the country as a whole in signing
deals with India. He said trade imbalance cannot be
reduced only by the official trade as unofficial trade is
bigger than the official volume.
"Even the tariff concession offered by India will not
reduce the trade gap," he said, adding that transhipment
was a bargaining chip to negotiate with India but
Bangladesh lost it. He noted that this will affect the
position of an LDC in the bargaining at trade
negotiations.
Govt has taken
inflation as a challenge: Muhith
BSS, Sangsad Bhaban
Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhit on Thursday said
the price spiral in the international market might affect
the local market, likely to make the country's current
inflation situation unstable in the coming days.
"Although the current inflation rate is not a big threat
for us, however, the government has taken it as a
challenge in the wake of price spiral in the international
market amid global economic recovery", he said while
replying to questions from lawmakers in the House on
Thursday. The average inflation during the July-October
period this year was 4.87 percent, which was 9.57 percent
in 2008-2009, Muhith said adding, "the price hike in the
international market may affect our economy also."
To contain the inflation at a tolerable stage, he said the
government has already taken a number of steps including
mopping up surplus liquidity in the market and keeping
production cost of food at lower level.
The finance minister said Bangladesh Bank has already
adopted a progressive monetary policy with a target to
achieve expected growth rate as well as reducing cost of
food production to keep the inflation rate at a tolerable
stage.
Referring to sale of rice among the poor people at Taka 22
per kg, Muhith said the government is giving subsidy to
fuel and has reduced fertilizer price up to 70 percent
aimed at reducing cost of food production.
Side by side, the finance minister said, the government
has also taken steps to build a food stock of 11.69 lakh
tonnes in the country and enhance food storage capacity by
7.84 lakh tonnes during the period from 2009-10 fiscal to
2012-2013 fiscal year.
Target of
Hilsha production over three lakh metric tons this year
BSS, Dhaka
The Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock has fixed a target
of producing Hilsha fish over three lakh metric tons this
year, which is more or less 2,000 metric tons more than
that of last year.
Over 1.5 lakh fishermen, who have refrained from catching
'Jatka' during the breeding season, are being provided
with increased food grain support, which immensely
contributed to fix the higher target, officials said. The
ministry sources today said that each fisherman family
will now get 30 kg rice every month for four months during
February to May and a total of 1,64,740 fishermen 10
districts would be brought under the food grain support.
Around 19,764 metric tons of food grains would be
distributed to 1,930 fishermen families under 59 upazilas
of the districts. The districts are Chandpur, Bhola,
Laksmipur, Barisal, Patuakhali, Barguna, Sariatpur,
Jhalkathi and Munshiganj.
Food grains are being distributed through offices of
respective district deputy commissioners and necessary
directives have already been given to follow rules in the
distribution.
Talking to BSS, Fisheries and Livestock Minister Abdul
Latif Biswas said this year fishermen are being given the
food grains two times more than last year as the Prime
Minister Sheikh Hasina earlier assured the fishermen of
increased support.
The government has realized that monthly 10 kg rice is not
as much as fishermen demand fishermen could not be
deterred from catching jatka with the mere food support
and in view of that the government finally decided to
increase the support, said the minister.
Editorial
Vehicles without
fitness certificates
It
is an open secret that huge unfit and outdated vehicles are
plying the city roads aggravating the traffic congestion and
causing sufferings to the people. But any figure about such
vehicles was not known. However, Communication Minister Syed
Abul Hossain disclosed in the Jatiya Sangsad on Wednesday that
around 79,245 vehicles are now plying in the capital without
updating their fitness certificates. Replying to a question he
said the government is now contemplating special BRTC bus
service in the city for students to reduce traffic congestion
during the school hours. Replying to another question the
minister said 60 BRTC buses are now plying on 45 routes in the
city. Adequate buses will be supplied to the educational
institutions according to their demand when new buses will be
added to the BRTC fleet, he said.
The minister said BRTC is now operating 415 buses and 139
trucks with profit. He also said that the government has come
up with a Taka eight crore credit facilities for BRTC to
repair and maintenance of 125 shabby buses. BRTC will be a
profitable organization when the buses will be operative, he
told the House. He said the authorities of the BTRC have taken
initiative to procure 100 CNG buses from China and 300 buses
from South Korea.
The minister has spoken more about the government plan to
increase the number of buses in the city than about the unfit
and outdated or unauthorised vehicles. In view of the growing
number of commuters more transports should be available on the
city roads and from that point of view the plan to import and
introduce more buses is encouraging. However, it is more
important to drive out the unfit and outdated buses from the
roads, because these vehicles add to the worsening traffic
congestion and intensify people's sufferings.
Without contesting the figure provided by the minister it can
be presumed that the number of old, outdated and unfit
vehicles plying in the city will be much more than 79,245.
These vehicles are on the roads under ‘special arrangements’
with the traffic police and the BRTA people. Otherwise, there
is no reason for these vehicles to be on the roads only to
aggravate the traffic congestion and cause sufferings to
public. The minister would have done better had he outlined
government plan to get rid of the vehicles plying in the city
without fitness certificates instead of telling the House only
the number of such vehicles.
According to available statistics, nearly 524,000 vehicles now
ply the city streets everyday against 3.03 lakh in 2003,
creating vexing tailbacks. The vehicles include nearly
1,47,000 private cars, 59,000 microbuses and jeeps, 29,000
lorries, 8,300 passenger buses, 8,320 minibuses, 6,272
taxicabs, CNG-run auto-rickshaws and auto-tempos 19,591.
Besides, the number of motorbikes is 217,800. BRTA officials
said 125 motor vehicles are getting registered on an average
everyday and 3,750 vehicles are hitting the city streets on an
average every month. Dhaka City with 250-300 kilometres of
roads has space for around 1.5 lakh vehicles. In other words
the number of vehicles presently is around four times the
capacity of the streets in the capital.
The traffic jam crisis is deep-rooted and it is unlikely to be
resolved suddenly. So, attempts should be made to find out
ways to resolve the traffic jam crisis permanently. As the
traffic jams are created mainly due to the overcrowding of the
roads by excessive number of vehicles, unauthorised parking of
vehicles and criminal violation of traffic rules, these
problems should be addressed extensively to ease the
situation. The workforce of the traffic department should also
be enhanced to deal with the situation. Above all, the old,
unfit vehicles and unauthorized rickshaws should be driven out
of the roads immediately.
Child labourers
Over
9 million children are trapped in the worst forms of child
labour living in slavery-like conditions, separated from their
families or exposed to serious danger and illness in the
country, according to an estimate by Save the Children
Sweden-Denmark (SCSD). Some children have to work in appalling
and dangerous conditions. Some are kept in institutions,
separate from their families and communities. Some are exposed
to abuse, violence, exploitation, neglect and kidnapped or
tricked into going thousands of miles from home.
All are vocal against child labour, but in reality the number
of children at works is increasing day by day. This is simply
because they need to earn the bread for themselves and their
families also. Child labour is prohibited worldwide including
our country, but in fact children are engaged as labourers in
almost all developing countries including Bangladesh. Poor
parents also send their children to work to support the
family.
Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics 2002-03 data had put the
number of child labourers in the country at 7.4 million. A
large section of them are engaged in risky jobs in mills,
factories and elsewhere. Many parents despite their earnest
desire cannot send their boys or girls to schools due to
abject poverty. As a result the child labourers are being
deprived of the opportunity to grow up as educated citizens.
The Government should take steps to provide for children the
basic needs like education, treatment, food and shelter. As
poverty is the main cause behind child labour efforts should
be made for poverty alleviation.
Analysis
Grasp the nettle
The question many ask of India is, why invite
another to a dialogue that has been programmed to fail. And,
of Pakistan, why knowing that failure was pre-planned did she
accept the invitation.
Zafar Hilaly
It
so happened that I watched a part of the coverage of the
India-Pakistan talks on a rickety television set sitting on
the naked floor of a bare room of a labourer and his family.
And nothing that was transpiring on the TV screen, before it
went off due to a power cut, seemed of any relevance to their
lives. Their thoughts were focussed entirely on the ruptured
water pipes that had denied them water for over a week.
That I should have preferred to watch something as seemingly
inconsequential to them as what was transpiring in Delhi,
rather than something, anything, that would amuse or distract
them from the hell that their daily lives have become, must
have crossed their minds, but they were too polite to say so.
At such moments the pathetic and interminable India-Pakistan
saga seems nothing else but how millions suffer so that a few
look great. To this lot success is not relevant. It is more
important that the adversary fail. And, sadly, it is they who
are in the ascendancy in Delhi.
Their fingerprints were visible all over the planning of the
foreign secretary's visit. Hence, confining the composition of
the delegations to personnel of the two Foreign Offices,
serving notice that there would be no joint press conference
or a joint statement, setting aside only so much time for the
talks that would be sufficient for opening statements and a
lecture on what is expected of Pakistan, rather than to
grapple with the substance of issues.
All this was planned, and so too the supercilious, and
condescending tone of the Indian foreign secretary in her
post-talks remarks to the press, replete with clichés and
truisms. Imagine ending a much anticipated meeting between two
neighbouring nuclear powers, at daggers drawn while the region
is in turmoilm with a "Hey, let's keep in touch." For sheer
featherbrained zaniness it was unprecedented.
India has reverted to type. This is Swaran Singh's India, not
that of Manmohan Singh, or Sonia's that we had come to hope.
This is the smug, arrogant and boorish India of old that has
so blighted relations. It is the India that swaggered like the
local bully and feted itself on its victory in Bengal against
a foe that was countless times weaker. And an India that still
prefers to kill to retain what is not its own to hold.
The question many ask of India is, why invite another to a
dialogue that has been programmed to fail. And, of Pakistan,
why knowing that failure was pre-planned did she accept the
invitation. Yet such are the paradoxes that characterise
India- Pakistan relations that on balance it was right for
Pakistan to accept the offer, just as it was wrong for India
to brazenly load the dice against a more meaningful outcome.
By extending the invitation India implicitly acknowledged that
its earlier stance was misconceived and self-defeating.
Stiff-arming Pakistan had earned India naught. For such
candour, if nothing else, India deserved encouragement.
Besides, there were the Americans who had successfully brought
pressure on India to revisit a failed policy; we could hardly
let them down.
Moreover, countries say nothing to each other only if they
have nothing to say; which is never the case between two
fractious neighbours like India and Pakistan. Talking for them
is a primary impulse, so why suppress it? And although this
too may change, if another sterile meeting is in the offing,
when it comes to taking gambles for peace and understanding
why indeed err on the side of caution? And if we were made to
look foolish for falling for the Indian ploy it's a mite
better to be viewed as a fool than a knave like India.
Perhaps the one solace that we can take from the Delhi meeting
was the opportunity that it presented the foreign secretary to
address the Indian population directly and, to his credit, he
did an excellent job in conveying our views with precisely the
right intonation in his speech and expression about the
pointlessness of holding meetings that were programmed to
fail; and our reluctance to repeat the experience. If he
sounded undiplomatic, it was because he rightly preferred that
the Indian public be told the truth, and, if that hurt, so be
it. Indeed, if truth be told, given the diplomatic
glad-handing to which his delegation was subjected in Delhi,
in his shoes someone else would have not only found it to be
his duty to speak his mind but actually taken pleasure in
doing so.
As for the scourge of terrorism that has engulfed Pakistan,
and seems to have arrived in India, the Indian notion that
Pakistan is to blame is a facile delusion that India may find
comforting. But Pakistan is not the reason, as the world has
acknowledged. It is a cause of wonderment that India feels
that we can somehow stop the terrorists if we wanted to. About
4,000 Pakistanis killed in three years bears stark testimony
to the fact that we cannot. And, yes, our proficiency is poor,
like that of India at Mumbai, while the determination of the
fanatic is presently irresistible.
Moreover, it beggars the imagination for India to think that
our performance will improve by Delhi's spurning engagement or
fashioning amity; and prolonging the settlement of outstanding
disputes and, in the process, stymieing greater interaction
and intelligence-sharing. Similarly, it is absurd to believe
that India can get us to do the job better by threatening war
by means of "Cold Start," which can only have a hot ending. To
swap perseverance in a good cause with obstinacy in a bad one
is insane.
That is not to say that Pakistan has always acted rationally
when it comes to dealings with India. We too have our
super-eagles that can be seen circling in the press and on
some channels. But notwithstanding the fire and brimstone they
threaten to visit on one and all who oppose them, thankfully,
today, they count for little. Mostly because they are in the
advanced stages of a debilitating ailment called infantile
nationalism. Their hatred being confined to one country,
namely, India. A variation of this ailment which others of
their ilk suffer from is hatred of every other nation but
their own. Happily, those with such a contagion no longer
inhabit government or the military in Pakistan, moreover, the
bile and hate they exude finds little resonance with the
public. Despite their prattling about those who oppose them it
is not that the rest of us love Pakistan less, except that we
love peace more, having come to the conclusion that one cannot
survive without the other.
Notwithstanding their present parlous state India-Pakistan
relations are far too important to be written off by the
casual "keep in touch" gesture that the Indian foreign
secretary favours. Many a time the peoples of the two
countries have been told to sit down, but today they mean to
be heard. And there are signs that, notwithstanding the
raucous braying of some Indian anchors, they are being heard.
At least Manmohan Singh appears to be listening. True, having
wisely rejected once, at Sharm al-Shaikh, the notion that
peace should be held hostage to terrorism, he then
backtracked. But one senses that he now wants to retrace his
steps. He may actually be doing so in his own fashion and at
his own pace, or else the foreign secretaries would not have
met. But Mr Singh's gait is slow, and his manner vacillating
and hesitant. He will find greater reward in a more decisive
and less inhibited approach when it comes to dealing with
Pakistan. Perhaps Mr Singh should harken to these words of a
noted poet:
Tender-handed stroke a nettle,
And it stings you for your pains;
Grasp it like a man of mettle,
And it soft as silk remains.
The writer is a former
ambassador of Pakistan. Email: charles123it@hotmail.com
Maoists On
the Up in India
The insurgencies punch a growing and sizeable hole in the
government's record of achievements.
Jonathan Power
Jharkhand
is one of the poorest states of India and has become a
test for the ability of Indian democracy to serve the
poor. Rich in minerals it remains grossly underdeveloped.
The jungles of its many mountains are home to 7 million
indigenous people who speak their tribal languages,
worship the sun not Hindu gods, are rarely schooled and
who live in dire poverty.
Three generations ago these hunters and gatherers were
forcibly settled, but agriculture was foreign to them.
Perhaps it is not surprising that these people have
produced Maoists guerrillas who have initiated a campaign
of murdering middlemen and those government officials they
suspect pocket development money allocated to their
bailiwicks. A local Congress MP, Ms Rebelo Merbelo, told
me that the main problem is severe unemployment. "And the
money allocated to change the situation simply runs away.
We have a poor, unstable, state government here and
although the central government wants to help it can't
just hand over more money that won't be used well".
I met Dr Prakash Oraon, who runs the Jharkhand Tribal
Development Society. Well-funded by both the central
government and the UN's International Fund for
Agricultural Development, and backed by the chief
minister, Oroan has put together a fired-up group of young
agricultural and community experts, all tribals
themselves, who go into 300 of the villages and get
?development going.
We went together into some of the remoter villages. The
transformation wrought by a couple of years of tenacious
work was visible.
In one village a new deep well replaced the old shallow,
inadequate one. A large pond had been dug to catch
rainwater and provide for aquaculture.
There was irrigation from the pond to fields planted with
grains, quick growing rice and potatoes.
The people still looked appallingly slight and young for
adults - barely anyone here survives beyond middle age -
but there is a light shining in their eyes when they talk
about the transformation of their village economy.
The guerrillas, I was told, don't impede the project's
work. Like the local elephants they wander in and out at
will, but unlike the elephants, not trampling good
initiatives underfoot.
The political trick now for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
is to find a way to quickly extend this kind of work
throughout the Maoist-infected areas. Today, the Maoists
plague significant parts of seven states.
Until the last few months the insurgents were not taken
seriously enough, even though Singh told me two years ago
that the problem was being confronted in "an adequate way"
with a mixture of rural development and tough policing,
and the government would have dealt with the problem
within a couple of years.
But now the government and the state governments are
clearly on the back foot, profoundly worried. The monster
is growing at a fast rate, killing government officials,
police and paramilitaries, and taking horrific revenge
against those villagers who don't immediately bow to them.
Local politicians have not always helped. In Jharkhand,
members of the legislative assembly and ministers
regularly bribe Maoists in an attempt to win their
cooperation and their votes, thus emboldening them
further. In the neighbouring, much more sophisticated,
state of West Bengal the opposition Trinamul Congress, a
local party, whose leader is the minister for railways in
the Singh government, sometimes gives the impression that
it is angling for Maoist support in the coming state
elections.
Neither agricultural reform nor the introduction of more
doctors, teachers and agricultural advisors nor clever
policing has been much on show. Indeed the police and the
local state militias seem totally incompetent, badly
trained, stupidly deployed and unable to understand that
economic, agricultural and social changes are much more
important than any bullets they may let fly. The Indian
economy is roaring ahead and is expected to overtake
China's growth rate in three years' time.
The government's programmes for aiding the poor are
increasingly well-funded and indeed most of the
countryside in the vast majority of states is at peace.
Nevertheless, the government's attention to the problems
of the tribals has come very late in the day. The
insurgencies punch a growing and sizeable hole in the
government's record of achievements.
Jonathan Power is a veteran commentator on foreign
affairs.
Fear of new
disaster
Rory Carroll
Heavy rain has
caused flooding in Haiti, killing at least 13 people as
swollen rivers forced people on to roofs and trapped
people in cars and homes.
With 1.3 million homeless and many living in makeshift
camps with little or no sanitation as a result of
January's earthquake, aid agencies have warned of another
humanitarian disaster as the rainy season looms.
Several towns and villages in southern Haiti have been
flooded since Saturday, a spokesman for the civil
emergency unit said. UN troops and Haitian police moved
500 prisoners from a jail in Les Cayes as 1.5 metres of
water swamped the coastal city. Witnesses said houses
collapsed and people fled for high ground.
"At one point, people had to climb on the roofs of their
homes," Joseph Yves-Marie Aubourg, the government's
representative in the region, told Reuters. Five people
died when their car was carried away, and others on foot
were swept away in the torrent.
Les Cayes largely escaped the Jan 12 quake which
devastated Port-au-Prince and killed more than 220,000,
according to government figures. Its population was
swollen by families fleeing the capital.
The government, the UN, and aid agencies have all raised
the alarm about the rainy season, which starts in March or
April and continues until autumn.
The scale of Haiti's catastrophe means that even a huge
relief effort has not provided adequate shelter to
hundreds of thousands of people. There are 415 temporary
settlements housing roughly 550,000 quake survivors,
according to the Organisation of International Migration.
Others are living in rubble or with relatives.
The United Nations aims to provide every family with two
plastic tarpaulins by May 1. So far about 40 per cent of
the 1.3 million in need have received tents, tarpaulins or
shelter toolkits, according to the Red Cross. Even if the
UN reaches its target, rains could turn camps into
disease-ridden swamps.
Already the stench of human waste is overpowering at
settlements like Saint-Louis de Gonzague, which has one
portable toilet for 10,000 people.
Viewpoints
A need to bury the hatchet
Afghanistan's stability hinges on a truce between India and
Pakistan.
Con Coughlin
It
was only a few years ago that the greatest threat the Indian
subcontinent posed to world peace was not the plots hatched by
militants, but the prospect of a nuclear holocaust. Eight
years ago, the world's first conflict between two
nuclear-armed nations was only narrowly averted by the
last-minute intervention of the world's leading powers. A
dispute that began in December 2001, when extremists based in
Pakistan attacked the Indian parliament, escalated to the
point that, by the following year, Pakistan's president was
warning India "not to expect a conventional war".
Similar tensions surfaced in 2008, when another group of
Pakistani terrorists attacked Mumbai's hotel district, and 174
people lost their lives. As in 2001, the terrorists were
associated with Pakistani militants campaigning for Kashmiri
independence from Indian rule, which led to yet another
diplomatic stand-off between Delhi and Islamabad.
While the crisis failed to provoke another nuclear stand-off,
it nevertheless highlighted the deep-seated mistrust and
antipathy between the two countries. These were in evidence
again on Thursday, when officials held their first formal
talks since the 2008 atrocity.
Nirupama Rao, India's Foreign Secretary, who hosted the talks,
played down the prospects of a proper rapprochement with
Pakistan when she remarked that India had approached the talks
with "open minds, fully conscious of the trust deficit between
the two countries".
The bitter history that has defined their relations since
Partition makes it highly unlikely that any meaningful accord
can ever be reached. But the fact that Delhi and Islamabad
have resumed a dialogue not only helps to reduce the threat of
nuclear conflict: it also has significant implications for the
success of the Nato-led effort in Afghanistan to defeat the
Taliban and establish political stability.
Amid the drama of Nato's attempts to crush the Taliban, it is
often forgotten that it is not only the West that has a stake
in Afghanistan's long-term future. Its location, at the heart
of Central Asia's trading routes, has for centuries made it a
much-coveted asset for the world's leading powers. In the 19th
century the "Great Game" was played out between Tsarist
Russia, which sought access to warm-water ports, and the
British Empire, which was obsessed with protecting India, the
jewel in its crown.
Major role
In the Great Game of the 21st century, India has itself
emerged as a key player in Afghanistan, and Indian goodwill is
regarded as essential to ending the bitter insurgency. Indeed,
in many respects, India must bear some of the blame for
Afghanistan's collapse during the 1990s. Following the
withdrawal of Soviet troops in 1989, Delhi's bitter rivalry
with Pak-istan led it to establish a strategic partnership
with Kabul. Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence responded
to this provocation by helping to establish the Taliban, which
eventually seized control of the country in the late 1990s.
Until only very recently, many senior officials within
Pakistan's intelligence and military establishment have been
deeply reluctant to cut their support for the Taliban, because
of their fears that India would once again attempt to
re-establish its influence in Kabul. For its part, India
remains determined to maintain a high-profile presence in
Afghanistan: lately, it funded the construction of a $82
million (Dh307.6 million) highway in south-west Afghanistan,
an investment that was undertaken, according to a senior Nato
official, "solely to annoy the Pakistanis".
Nor is Pakistan the only country that is wary of Indian
attempts to extend its influence in Afghanistan. China, which
has its own fraught relationship with Delhi (the two countries
fought a brief border war in 1962), is funding a $2.98 billion
(Dh11.2 billion) project to mine Afghanistan's untapped copper
reserves, a project that has been received with alarm in Delhi
because of China's close ties with Pakistan. Beijing and
Islamabad are also actively exploring ways to build a
trans-Himalayan pipeline, from which India would be excluded.
The deep-seated rivalry between India and Pakistan is just one
of the many outside influences that will have a bearing on
Nato's chances of achieving success - which is why the West is
pressing Islamabad and Delhi to patch up their differences.
Richard Holbrooke, Washington's special envoy to the region,
has been particularly forthright in his attempts to persuade
Delhi to re-establish a dialogue with Islamabad.
Ironically, it is the growing threat posed by militant groups
that has done much to further this cause. Last year's attempt
by the Pakistani Taliban to seize control of the Swat Valley
was a wake-up call for both governments. While Islamabad was
forced to accept for the first time that militants posed a
direct threat to the survival of the ruling classes, India was
faced with the prospect of a fundamentalist regime on its
doorstep, armed with nuclear weapons.
India and Pakistan are never going to be close allies, but the
realisation that they face a common enemy means they should
set their differences aside and co-operate to improve the
region's security. That process should start in Afghanistan.
Fighting
Israeli Apartheid
This is the
first lesson of the Arab-Israel conflict over the past
seven decades. Israel's ultimate goal is total subjugation
of and victory over the Palestinians and Arabs.
Aijaz Zaka Syed
I
am not sure about others but I really look forward to
readers' reaction after sharing my ramblings with them
every week. Each attempt to put across one's point of
view, for what it's worth, is followed by a breathless
wait for the verdict. While many do not understandably
agree with my worldview, some of the responses are so
interesting and thought-provoking that I desperately want
to share them with the larger audience.
For instance, check out some of these letters I got in
response to my piece on the assassination of Hamas
commander in Dubai, which has Mossad fingerprints all over
it with the ever widening ring of suspicion now encircling
all of the globe. A European reader based in Norway, upset
over the Western governments' policies in the Middle East
and their reaction to the broad daylight killing, wrote
back saying: "Rather than the West 'bending over backwards
to humour Israel' (my words in the article last week) it
is my contention that the West bends 'forwards' in order
to facilitate Israel in ****ing them. Don't they have any
shame?"
Another Scandinavian reader, based in the neighbouring
Sweden, commented: "I am disgusted by our complete
disregard for the victims of terrorism when carried out by
Western states and their allies. We have seen its proof
once again in the Dubai killing. However, the truth will
prevail in the end - of that I'm sure."
A British reader echoed these sentiments saying: "The
Palestinian people's struggle will continue despite
setbacks and betrayals by Western governments, one of
whom, I regret to say, is mine."
These are only some of the scores of letters that arrived
in response to the piece, all of them questioning and
protesting their own countries' indifference and
complicity in the Israeli crimes against a long persecuted
people. These reactions give you hope about this beautiful
planet that has witnessed so much injustice and suffering.
There's hope for our world as long as it remains blessed
by such noble souls.
I wonder why these voices of conscience do not reach the
democratic Western governments though? With all the
resources at their disposal and their vast network of
media outlets and powerful PR machines, how come they
cannot hear the voices of their own people who are
essentially peace-loving and believe in fair play and a
just world like you and me?
As I struggle with these questions, I am drawn to today's
newspaper on my table. It's hard to miss the screaming
headline of the front-page report: EUROPE NOT INTERESTED
IN FOLLOWING DUBAI KILLERS' TRAILS.
The Geneva-datelined news report says: "A killer - or
killers - may be on the loose in Europe after a Hamas
operative was slain last month in Dubai. European nations,
however, seem to be in no rush to find him, her or them."
The Associated Press report goes on to explain why.
Quoting European experts, the report claims that
"arresting Israeli agents - or even digging up further
evidence that Israel was involved - could be politically
costly" for European and Western governments.
The outraged UAE authorities including Foreign Minister
Shaikh Abdullah bin Zayed al Nahyan have promised to bring
the assassins to justice. Dubai Police chief Dhahi Khalfan
Tamim has been boldly and persistently pushing for action
by all countries whose citizens have been involved in the
killing.
However, European nations whose passports and national
identity have been forged and abused with impunity by the
Israelis to kill at will in Dubai are yet to show any
interest in pursuing the killers' trails. The Swiss,
Dutch, Italian, French and German authorities have
launched no investigation or taken steps to go after the
killers.
Even though there exists an Interpol arrest warrant issued
at UAE's request against 11 suspects charged with
"coordinating and committing the murder," European
officials told the AP news agency they have no reason or
intention to go after them.
Only Britain and Australia have sent police teams to quiz
Israeli dual nationals whose passports were cloned by the
killers. France, Germany and Italy say they are
'considering' looking into the abuse of their passports.
Apparently, forgery is a more serious problem for them
than the involvement of their citizens in a high profile
assassination in distant Dubai.
So despite this sensational murder of a top Palestinian
official in a peaceful, neutral country like the UAE, and
forgery and abuse of their national documents and
identity, European nations still cannot muster the courage
to confront almighty Israel.
As I had suggested in this space last week, despite all
the stinking and screaming evidence that Dubai has in its
possession, Israel will likely get away with murder. Just
as it always has - striking at will anywhere it wants in
total contempt for all international laws and accepted
norms and conventions.
On the other hand, it's increasingly clear, if it hadn't
been to some, that Israel is not interested in making
peace or sharing anything with the Palestinians. It
doesn't give a damn about the so-called peace process or
dialogue and all the circus associated with it. It cares
two hoots about what the international community thinks
about its continuing persecution of Palestinian people or
belligerent and brazen actions like this killing in Dubai.
This is the first lesson of the Arab-Israel conflict over
the past seven decades. Israel's ultimate goal is total
subjugation of and victory over the Palestinians and
Arabs. Greater Israel, from river to the sea, is the
ultimate objective of the Zionists. And they wouldn't stop
at that. They seek total control and dominance over the
entire Middle East and wouldn't tolerate any one who can
even remotely look like a challenger to its supremacy.
This is why Iraq was neutered and destroyed. And this is
why Iran is now in sights.
So all this talk of peace, dialogue and two-states
solution is nothing but bunkum-a meaningless ploy. As a
dear friend who has devoted all her life to fighting for
the rights of Palestinians puts it, it is a sham and
carefully choreographed masquerade! This is at best a good
delaying tactic that has worked for Israel all these years
even as it continues to gobble up more and more
Palestinian and Arab land.
This will change only when global public opinion,
especially the Western public opinion, forces Western
governments, including that of the United States, to rein
in Israel and solve the problem they created in the heart
of the Muslim world. As eminent Jewish peace activist and
author Gilad Atzmon suggests, the tide of Western public
opinion is already turning against Israel.
But we have a long way to go before this tide turns into a
global revolution forcing the criminal regime in Israel to
end its reign of terror. Just as a deluge of world public
opinion sunk the Apartheid regime in South Africa, only
concerted efforts and a global Gandhian movement can put
an end to Israeli Apartheid. Ultimately, it was Western
public opinion that forced the world powers to end their
indulgence and protection of Apartheid South Africa.
There are many parallels between South Africa and
Palestine. And not just in the tyranny of a minority over
the indigenous majority. In fact, the Apartheid that
Palestinians have long suffered is perhaps even worse than
what Nelson Mandela's people experienced under the white
racist regime for nearly three centuries. And the same
solution will work in the case of Palestine as well with
justice and equal rights for everyone, as South Africa has
achieved it after immense sacrifices. So stand up and
speak out wherever you are against the Israeli Apartheid.
Israel is incredibly powerful and has powerful friends in
high places. But trust me no power is strong enough to
withstand the force of world public opinion. As a reader
assures me, in the end the truth shall prevail.
Aijaz Zaka Syed is Opinion Editor of Khaleej Times.
Write to him at aijaz@khaleejtimes.com
Foreign influence is waning in Iraq
But Washington makes it clear troop withdrawal will not
diminish its role in Baghdad.
Mohammad Akef Jamal
We
say to the Iraqis, if you work with us Iraq would be a
member of the international community, and you will have
respect wherever you go, and you will be a strategic
partner of the United States, we do not use the negative
method: because we have troops in your country and we can
harm you... We tell them if you go with Iran it would be a
different way with you."
With these very clear words, Christopher Hill, the US
Ambassador to Iraq, answered a question related to the
possibility of Iran playing a bigger role in Iraq after
the withdrawal of US troops in the coming few months.
Hill's important statement comes at a decisive moment in
Iraq, which is expected to witness huge political changes.
The bitter experience Iraqis underwent over the past years
makes it inevitable for them to vote for new faces for the
parliament. The Middle East is also witnessing the
emergence of dangerous flashpoints that may explode into
bloody wars.
Hill's statement coincided with the speech of General
Raymond Odierno, the US top commander in Iraq, in which
the general accused the executive director of the
Accountability and Justice Commission, along with the
panel's chairman Ahmad Chalabi, of being "clearly
influenced by Iran".
The declarations also came at a time when active action is
being taken to cut Iran to size with a fourth round of
sanctions over its nuclear programme. The statements also
came at a time of improved relations between Syria and the
US.
Hill's carefully chosen words were directed at the Iraqi
government which will take office after the upcoming
elections. His statement also revealed the discontent of
the US over the relationship between some Iraqi political
leaders and Iran.
Hill said, "There is no doubt that Iran showed a very
hateful face in Iraq.This means that we should be wary if
Iranian interference in Iraq continues to be vindictive."
It is not a coincidence that Hill's statement comes a few
days before the Iraqi elections, especially after American
efforts to thwart what it considers Iranian interference
in the Iraqi elections failed.
The US believes Iranian influence is embodied in the
removal of a number of political blocs and candidates from
the elections by the Accountability and Justice
Commission, which the US alleges is led by Iran-affiliated
individuals.
The US ambassador's statements may well be interpreted as
the start of American regression in Iraq, in accordance
with US President Barak Obama's policy of cutting down
foreign preoccupation.
On the other hand, some may consider these statements a
prelude to pressure its allies to give up on Iran, and to
determine its position in a clear and candid manner,
either with or against the US. However, no matter what the
explanation may be, these statements are in themselves an
interference in Iraq's internal affairs and an attempt to
influence the Iraqi elections which is a natural
consequence of the US invasion.
Quest for power
Moreover, the assumption of some Iraqi politicians that
the US refrains from interfering in Iraq's affairs is
unrealistic, especially as those same politicians owe
their existence in the Iraqi government to the US
interference in the country.
Nevertheless, whoever misreads Hill's statements will be
making a strategic mistake. The US ambassador further
warned of assessing the US influence in Iraq by the number
of its troops inside the country by saying: "Our influence
in Iraq is not a specific number of troops in it," adding
that "the US is serious in its desire for long-term
relationships with Iraq, if Iraq is to this relationship,
it should cooperate with us."
The US plan to pull its troops out of Iraq does not entail
a complete withdrawal, as 50,000 American soldiers will
remain in the huge military bases. The US has also built
one of the world's largest embassies in Iraq to oversee
its interests in the Middle East.
Further, any drawback in the US policy towards Iran will
not be in accordance with the pressure, containment and
isolation policy used by Washington with its Western
allies to increase sanctions against Iran.
It is more likely that the role of Iran in Iraq will
weaken after the elections, if all goes well and the
elections are not tampered with. The sectarian strife has
also become increasingly insignificant despite Iran's
efforts to foment it.
Moreover, the Iranian project in Iraq with its ready
surgical tools to segregate the country through the
loopholes present in its constitution has weakened
tremendously.
Two things that worked against Iran were Iraqis in Basra
defeating the federal project for their governorate and an
important political power in the south being compelled to
change its strategy in this respect because of its wide
unpopularity.
Religious party leaders who are closer to Iran have also
lost a great deal of their influence over the past four
years due to their poor performance on both the
legislative and execution levels. They were also unable to
deliver their election campaign promises and became mere
facades for shady money deals and administrative
corruption.
Mohammad Akef Jamal is an Iraqi writer based in Dubai.
International
Pakistan fighting
‘kills 37 Taliban, one soldier’
AFP, Peshawar
Pakistan said ground fighting and an air strike killed 37
militants in its tribal belt on the Afghan border Thursday
after dozens of Taliban stormed a paramilitary checkpost.
The military claims to be making fresh gains against
Taliban and Al-Qaeda strongholds, under US pressure to do
more to stop militants infiltrating Afghanistan and
attacking Western troops. In a pre-dawn attack, more than
100 armed Taliban stormed a checkpost of the paramilitary
Frontier Corps, killing one soldier and wounding four
others in the town of Chamarkand in Mohmand tribal
district, an official said.
"Troops equipped with mortars and long-range cannons
retaliated, killing 30 militants," local administration
official Maqsood Ahmed told AFP. A military statement
confirmed the clash and the 30 casualties. Death tolls are
impossible to confirm independently as the area is rife
with violence and out of bounds to most reporters and aid
workers.
Chamarkand lies about two kilometres (one mile) from the
Afghan province of Kunar, which like much of Afghanistan
has seen increasing attacks by Taliban militants trying to
topple the Kabul government and force out foreign troops.
Mohmand neighbours Bajaur district, where the military on
Tuesday said it had captured a labyrinth of Taliban and
Al-Qaeda caves dug into mountains near the Afghan border
in an offensive that killed 75 militants.
Pakistani fighter jets on Thursday pounded a suspected
Taliban base in Orakzai district, elsewhere in the tribal
belt.
"The air strike targeted Dabori, a mountainous town in
Orakzai," local administration official Fazle Qadir told
AFP. "Two hideouts were destroyed and seven militants were
killed."
A senior military official confirmed the strike and the
death toll. On Wednesday, Pakistan's paramilitary forces
said troops killed 38 militants during a week-long
operation against the Taliban under the codename "Spring
Cleaning" in the northwest Taliban stronghold of Pastawana.
Troops destroyed Taliban bases and training centres set up
in caves carved into the mountains and wrestled control of
the stronghold near the garrison city of Kohat back from
the insurgents, officials said. Under US pressure,
Pakistan has in the last year significantly increased
operations against militants in its northwest and tribal
belt, which Washington has branded an Al-Qaeda
"headquarters" and the most dangerous region on Earth.
The rugged tribal terrain became a stronghold for hundreds
of extremists who fled neighbouring Afghanistan after the
US-led invasion in late 2001. In spring last year,
Pakistan's armed forces launched a determined offensive to
rid the northwest Swat region of Taliban militants who had
waged a two-year insurgency and were inching closer to
Islamabad. Washington says the militants use Pakistan's
semi-autonomous tribal belt to plot and stage attacks in
Afghanistan, where more than 120,000 NATO and US troops
are helping Afghan forces battle the Taliban militia.
US envoy refuses to blame
LeT for Kabul attack
Dawn Online, Washington
US envoy Richard Holbrooke has rejected New Delhi's claim
that recent terror strikes in Kabul specifically targeted
Indians.
At a Tuesday afternoon briefing at the State Department,
Mr Holbrooke urged both India and Pakistan to stop blaming
each other without substantial proof.
Responding to a question from an Indian journalist, Mr
Holbrooke refused to accept claims by Indian and Afghan
officials that recent terrorist attacks in Kabul were
launched by Lashkar-e-Taiba and were aimed specifically at
Indians.
"In regard to this attack, I don't accept the fact that
this was an attack on an Indian facility like the (Indian)
embassy," he said. "They were foreigners, non-Indian
foreigners hurt. It was a soft target. Let's not jump to
conclusions." Mr Holbrooke also criticised the tendency in
India and Pakistan to blame each other for such incidents.
"I understand why everyone in Pakistan and everyone in
India always focus on the other. But please, let's not
draw a conclusion for which there's no proof," said the US
envoy when asked to comment on a bomb attack in Kabul last
week that also killed some Indian citizens. Although he
spoke at length on relations between India and Pakistan
and how their rivalry posed a dilemma for the US, -- which
has good relations with both-he emphasised that he wanted
to confine his comments to their role in Afghanistan and
did not want to get involved in other issues involving the
two countries.
Without uttering the "K" word, Mr Holbrooke debunked
suggestions that Washington should help India and Pakistan
resolve the Kashmir issue as part of a regional approach
to end the Afghan war.
"Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India... share a common
strategic space," he said. "And in order to understand
America's policy and America's policy dilemma, one has to
understand that both India and Pakistan have legitimate
security interests in the region."
UN envoy says it's 'time to
talk' to the Taliban
AP, Kabul
The head of the U.N. mission in Afghanistan said Thursday
that it's "high time" a political solution is found with
the Taliban to resolve the more than 8-year-old conflict.
"It's time to talk," Kai Eide said.
In his last news conference as the U.N. representative,
Eide said he hoped a spring peace jirga - or conference -
that Afghan President Hamid Karzai is organizing would
result in a national consensus for peace that the entire
nation could rally around.
In a wide-ranging news conference at the heavily secured
U.N. compound, Eide said he has always been behind a
policy of engagement, but has no allusions about the
complexities of negotiating peace with Taliban leaders.
He also said he would continue his push for electoral
reform following Karzai's decree last week giving the
Afghan the authority to appoint members of a formerly
independent Electoral Complaints Commission.
The panel, which monitors election fraud, was previously
dominated by U.N. appointees, who uncovered massive fraud
in last year's presidential election. Eide said he met
with Karzai on Thursday morning to ensure a fairer ballot
during parliamentary elections this fall.
"We have made some progress, for instance with regard to
international participation in the Electoral Complaints
Commission," Eide said. He sounded optimistic about the
ongoing negotiations but did not provide further details.
Eide, a Norwegian diplomat, is stepping down after a
two-year tenure marked by a deadly Taliban attack that
killed five U.N. workers at a small hotel in the Afghan
capital, Kabul.
Japan PM says to make US
base proposal this month
Reuters, Tokyo
Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, scrambling to
settle a row with Washington that is eroding his ratings,
said on Thursday he would finalise this month a plan to
move the U.S. airbase at the core of the feud.
Hatoyama, whose Democratic Party swept to power last year
promising to rethink ties with the United States, has
pledged to reach agreement on a new relocation plan for
the U.S. Marines' Futenma airbase by the end of May. "It's
already March and there are worries we will run out of
time if we can't decide until after March," Hatoyama said.
"So naturally, we need to put together our government's
plan some time in March," he told reporters.
During the campaign that swept his party to power last
year, Hatoyama had raised the hopes of many on Japan's
Okinawa that Futenma could be moved off the southern
island, host to the bulk of America's 47,000 military
personnel.
But Washington wants to stick to a 2006 deal to shift the
facility to a less crowded spot on northern Okinawa, and
voter perception that Hatoyama has mishandled ties with
its ally has helped slice his ratings to under 40 percent
in some surveys.
The Mainichi and Asahi newspapers said on Thursday that
Japan was leaning toward a proposal to build a new runway
inside the Marines' Camp Schwab on Okinawa and shift other
training facilities either elsewhere in Japan or outside
the country.
That plan would likely leave many Okinawans and the United
States unhappy, so whether a deal can be clinched is
unclear.
Some analysts have suggested that Hatoyama might have to
resign if he fails to resolve the feud.
The mayor of Nago, where Camp Schwab is located, has said
he opposes the idea, but his approval is not legally
required.
The United States also rejected a similar plan during the
decade of talks leading to the current agreement, which
involves building runways on landfill in the adjacent bay,
home to a rare marine mammal called the dugong, the
Mainichi newspaper said.
63 die, dozens injured in
Indian temple stampede
AP, Lucknow
A stampede broke out at a Hindu temple in northern India
on Thursday as thousands of people jostled one another to
get free clothes and food, leaving at least 63 people dead
and dozens more injured, officials said.
Most of the victims were women and children, officials
said. The force of the stampede was so great that it
knocked down a gate at the temple compound in Kunda, a
small town 110 miles (180 kilometers) southeast of Lucknow,
the capital of Uttar Pradesh state. About 44 worshippers
were injured in the crush of people at a temple belonging
to a popular local religious leader, said Ashok Kumar, a
senior government official.
Thousands of farmers and villagers had gathered at the
temple around noon to receive free goods to mark the
anniversary of the death of the wife of the religious
leader, Kripalu Maharaj, said Brij Lal, a local police
official.
By late afternoon police had cleared the compound and
started the process of identifying the bodies, Kumar said.
Hundreds of people gathered at a nearby hospital for news
of their family members. "She had just wandered in to see
what was happening," said Gudal, a 38-year-old farmer
whose 7-year-old daughter, Ranjana, was killed. Gudal, who
uses only one name, wept as she spoke. Leelawati, 32,
cried as she waited to see the body of her 11-year-old
daughter, Lakshmi, who also died in the stampede.
Deadly stampedes are a relatively common occurrence at
temples in India, where large crowds - sometimes hundreds
of thousands of people - congregate in small areas lacking
facilities to control big gatherings.
In 2008, more than 145 people died in a stampede at a
remote Hindu temple at the foothill of the Himalayas.
Thailand denies visa to
Dalai Lama's sister
AP, Bangkok
Thailand has denied a visa to the sister of Tibet's
spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, fearing it could upset
relations with China.
A top Thai Foreign Ministry official said Thursday that
the Jetsun Pema and her husband had applied for visas to
attend a cultural festival in Bangkok at Thailand's
Embassy in New Delhi, India, but were rejected. About 30
other Tibetan exiles in India were granted visas to attend
a "Festival of Tibetan Spirituality, Arts and Cultures"
that begins Friday.
"We welcome cultural diversity and have no problem with
people coming in and participating in the activities,"
said Chavanond Intarakomalyasut, secretary to the foreign
minister, but he added: "In this case, we fear giving
permission will be linked to politics. We don't want to be
in the middle of international conflicts."
Thani Thongpakdi, a Foreign Ministry deputy spokesman,
said the visa applications were rejected because the
government does not allow people or groups to "use
Thailand as a base to conduct activities detrimental to
other countries." China claims Tibet has been part of its
territory for centuries but sent communist forces to
occupy the Himalayan region in 1950.
Singapore warns of terror
threat in Malacca Strait
AP, Singapore
Singapore's Navy warned that a terrorist group is planning
attacks on oil tankers in the Malacca Straits, one of the
world's busiest shipping lanes. Terrorists may also be
targeting other vessels in the shipping lane off
Malaysia's east coast, according to an advisory issued
Wednesday by the Navy's Information Fusion Centre seen by
The Associated Press.
"The terrorists' intent is probably to achieve widespread
publicity and showcase that it remains a viable group,"
the Navy advisory said. "However, this information does
not preclude possible attacks on other large vessels with
dangerous cargo."
The Navy did not say which terrorist group is planning the
attacks. Spokesmen at the Defense Ministry and the
Information Fusion Centre were not immediately available
for comment.
The Malacca Strait is the favorite route of oil shippers
between the Persian Gulf and Asian Pacific markets. The
strait, just 1.7 miles at its narrowest point, was the
second-busiest shipping lane of crude in 2006, with 15
million barrels a day passing through, according to the
U.S. Energy Information Agency.
Singapore lies at the southern tip of the Malay peninsula
and is home to the world's busiest port.
The Navy said in previous successful terrorist attacks on
tankers, small fishing boats or speedboats were used, and
these kinds of boats could be used to attack ships in the
Malacca Strait.
China
says pushing for diplomatic solution on Iran
AP, Beijing
China said Thursday it will continue to push for a
diplomatic resolution to the Iranian nuclear standoff,
rebuffing efforts by Western powers to introduce a new set
of sanctions against Iran.
"We've been making diplomatic efforts and we believe they
have not been exhausted, and we will continue to work with
other parties to push for a settlement to this issue,"
said Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang.
The proposed sanctions would target Iran's powerful
Revolutionary Guard and toughen existing measures against
its shipping, banking and insurance sectors, well-informed
U.N. diplomats said Wednesday.
The U.S., Britain and France support such new sanctions,
and Russia - which is normally opposed - appears to be
moving closer to that view. That leaves only permanent
Security Council member China - which depends on Iran for
much of its energy needs - opposed to new sanctions.
The Security Council's five permanent members have veto
power, so China could block council sanctions, although it
is more likely to abstain if the other four are in
support. Qin said China would continue to work toward the
resumption of talks on the issue and "make constructive
efforts for a proper resolution of the Iranian nuclear
issue through dialogue and negotiations."
Iran is already under three sets of Security Council
sanctions meant to punish its refusal to freeze its
uranium enrichment program, which can be re-engineered to
produce highly enriched, weapons grade uranium instead of
its present low-enriched output.
Tehran insists it is enriching only to produce fuel for an
envisaged nuclear power network.
Death toll climbs to 17 in
spate of Baghdad blasts
AP, Baghdad
A string of blasts across the Iraqi capital targeting
voters killed 17 people Thursday, authorities said,
ratcheting up fear in an already tense city as many Iraqis
cast early ballots ahead of Sunday's nationwide
parliamentary elections.
Insurgents have repeatedly threatened to use violence to
disrupt the elections, which will help determine who will
oversee the country as U.S. forces go home and whether the
country can overcome its deep sectarian divides. Two of
Thursday's blasts hit voters outside polling stations.
"Terrorists wanted to hamper the elections, thus they
started to blow themselves up in the streets," said Deputy
Interior Minister Ayden Khalid Qader, who's responsible
for election-related security across the country.
He said that because the bombers were not able to reach
polling places due to security measures, they were
targeting voters on their way to polling centers. Many of
the victims were believed to be security personnel - the
main group to cast their ballots during early voting since
they will be working on election day.
Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis are expected to take part
in Thursday's early voting, a one-day session designed for
those who might not be able to get to the polls Sunday,
when the rest of the country votes.
Early voters also include detainees, hospital patients and
medical workers.
The United Nations Assistance Mission to Iraq estimated
that between 600,000 and 700,000 people could vote
Thursday. About 19 million of Iraq's estimated 28 million
people are eligible to vote in the elections, which will
see Iraqi expatriates cast ballots in 16 countries around
the world.
Israel, Palestinians set
for indirect talks
Reuters, Jerusalem
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday Israel
hoped to begin indirect negotiations with the Palestinians
next week during a visit by Washington's Middle East
envoy.
Palestinian officials said they wanted the U.S.-mediated
talks to focus initially on defining the borders of a
state they hope to establish in the West Bank and Gaza
Strip.
"Our ultimate objective is to try to achieve a peace
settlement with our Palestinian neighbors by means of
direct talks," Netanyahu told reporters. "But we always
said we don't necessarily insist on the format." With the
blessing of the Arab League, the Palestinians have agreed
to four months of indirect negotiations sponsored by
Washington, which has been trying to break a deadlock and
revive the two-decade-old peace process.
Israel's five conditions for
peace with Palestinians
Reuters adds: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
has set five conditions for peacemaking with the
Palestinians. Following are Israel's demands, and the
Palestinian position on each issue.
1. Palestinians must recognise Israel as a Jewish state.
Palestinians say such recognition could be perceived as
ruling out a "right of return" for Palestinian refugees to
land now in Israel. They say they are also mindful of the
rights of Arab citizens of Israel.
2. Palestinian refugees must be resettled outside Israel.
Palestinians have long demanded that refugees who fled or
were forced to leave in the war of Israel's creation in
1948 should be allowed to return, along with millions of
their descendants. But Palestinian negotiators have
signaled they would accept "a just and agreed-upon"
solution for refugees as laid out in a U.N. resolution
that mentions compensation for those who settle elsewhere.
3. The final peace agreement will end the conflict, and
Palestinians can make no further demands on issues such as
borders and refugees.
The Palestinians seek a final, lasting agreement that
would meet all their national aspirations.
4. The Palestinian state must be demilitarized so as not
to threaten Israel.
The Palestinians do not object to this demand, but say it
should be discussed in negotiations with Israel.
5. Foreign backing, in the form of explicit international
guarantees, for these security arrangements.
Again, the Palestinians say the issue can be sorted out in
peace talks, as it was agreed upon in previous
internationally-backed agreements like the 2003 "road
map".
Some Dems are wary of
Obama’s final health push
AP, Washington
Rank-and-file Democrats in Congress remain wary ofhealth
care legislation in spite of President Barack Obama's
closing argument for overhauling the system, well aware
that success is far from assured and political perils
abound.
"I think he has succeeded in prying open a window of
opportunity, but it's a very narrow window," said
first-term Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va. "And he and the
leadership here had better clamber through that narrow
window while they can."
In a speech Wednesday at the White House, Obama called on
lawmakers to end a year of legislative struggle and angry
public debateand enact legislation ushering in
near-universal health coverage for the first time in the
country's history. He called for an "up-or-down vote"
within weeks under rules denying Republicans the ability
to block the bill with a filibuster. "At stake right now
is not just our ability to solve this problem, but our
ability to solve any problem," the president said. "And so
I ask Congress to finish its work, and I look forward to
signing this reform into law."
Appearing before a select audience, many of them wearing
white medical coats, Obama firmly rejected calls from
Republicans to draft new legislation from scratch.
US pledges to mend ties,
China says
AFP, Beijing
China said Thursday that the United States has pledged to
work to improve relations with Beijing after Washington
stirred up tensions by approving an arms package to Taiwan
and hosting the Dalai Lama.
Visiting US Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg held
an "in-depth and candid exchange of views" with Foreign
Minister Yang Jiechi and other officials during a
three-day visit this week, said foreign ministry spokesman
Qin Gang.
"During talks the Chinese side said... the behaviour of
the US on the Taiwan and Tibetan issues has seriously
undermined bilateral relations and caused difficulties in
important areas of China-US cooperation," Qin told
reporters. "The current priority of the US side is to take
China's position seriously, honour China's core interests
and major concerns... and take concrete actions to push
China-US relations back toward sound and stable
development."
Steinberg and senior White House Asia adviser Jeffrey
Bader arrived in Beijing on Tuesday on a fence-mending
mission following the recent setbacks.
The pair-who also met State Councillor Dai Bingguo-were
working to secure China's cooperation on a host of issues,
including new sanctions on Iran over its suspect nuclear
programme. Qin reiterated China's view that diplomacy was
the only way to resolve the standoff.
The US embassy in Beijing declined to comment on the talks
held by the pair of envoys, who were due to arrive in
Japan later Thursday. Washington irked Beijing in January
with the sale of 6.4 billion dollars in arms to Taiwan,
and then again a month later when US President Barack
Obama met the Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled spiritual leader,
at the White House.
Earlier, a Chinese government spokesman launched a new
warning to foreign countries not to interfere in Beijing's
affairs in Tibet and Taiwan-clearly directed at the United
States.
Astronomers discover star
that’s almost as old as the universe itself
ANI, Washington
Astronomers have discovered a relic from the early
universe - a star that may have been among the second
generation of stars to form after the Big Bang.
Located in the dwarf galaxy Sculptor some 290,000
light-years away, the star has a remarkably similar
chemical make-up to the Milky Way's oldest stars. Its
presence supports the theory that our galaxy underwent a
"cannibal" phase, growing to its current size by
swallowing dwarf galaxies and other galactic building
blocks.
"This star likely is almost as old as the universe
itself," said astronomer Anna Frebel of the
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.
Dwarf galaxies are small galaxies with just a few billion
stars, compared to hundreds of billions in the Milky Way.
In the "bottom-up model" of galaxy formation, large
galaxies attained their size over billions of years by
absorbing their smaller neighbors.
"If you watched a time-lapse movie of our galaxy, you
would see a swarm of dwarf galaxies buzzing around it like
bees around a beehive," explained Frebel.
"Over time, those galaxies smashed together and mingled
their stars to make one large galaxy - the Milky Way," she
said.
Chile military rolls out
post-quake aid effort
AP, Concepcion
The Chilean military's humanitarian aid effort hit the
streets, carrying food and water to some areas that had
seen little of either since a mammoth earthquake struck
five days ago.
Soldiers filled trucks with plastic bags of cooking oil,
flour and canned beans, and municipal crews delivered the
packages Wednesday to areas secured by troops from
looters. The humanitarian role for Chile's army marked a
shift for a military long associated with dictatorship-era
repression. Survivors cheered the troops' arrival and the
restoration of order in streets still littered with
rubble, downed power lines and destroyed cars. But some
criticized that the first place in Concepcion to get an
aid delivery was a street of houses inhabited by military
families.
"This entire block belongs to the army," Yanira Cifuentes,
31, said of the houses on General Novoa Avenue. She said
her husband is an officer.
Cifuentes said the aid was welcome after days of sleeping
in tents and sharing food with neighbors over a wood fire.
But she also said the neighborhood hadn't gone hungry
because residents had access to food at the regiment.
Military officers who refused to give their names insisted
their families were suffering, too, and said many soldiers
have been working around the clock since the quake not
knowing how their loved ones fared.
Saturday's magnitude-8.8 quake and tsunami ravaged a
700-kilometer (435-mile) stretch of Chile's Pacific coast.
Downed bridges and damaged or debris-strewn highways made
transit difficult if not impossible in many areas. The
official death toll reached 802 on Wednesday.
Business/Economy
PM seeks
Korean investment in potential sectors
UNB, Dhaka
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina invited Korean entrepreneurs
to invest in Bangladesh's power, leather, infrastructure
development, textiles, jute goods, deep-sea fishing and
shipbuilding sectors that hold out huge business
prospects.
She made the call when outgoing Ambassador of the Republic
of Korea Suk-Bum Park paid a courtesy call on the Prime
Minister at her official residence Jamuna Thursday. During
the meeting, the Prime Minister also said Korea could
recruit engineers and IT experts from Bangladesh, saying
that Bangladeshi people are very hardworking and
law-abiding.
Hasina and the Korean envoy also had conversation on
hybrid rice production and developing Genetically Modified
(GM) seeds and germ plasm.
Suk-Bum Park on behalf of the Korean Prime Minister
invited Sheikh Hasina to visit Korea. In reply, the
premier also invited her Korean counterpart through the
ambassador to visit Bangladesh "at a convenient time",
said Prime Minister's Press Secretary Abul Kalam Azad.
The South Korean envoy assured the Prime Minister of
further expediting its cooperation in Bangladesh's
Information Technology (IT) and other development sectors.
They also discussed various matters of bilateral
development, including expansion of trade and business.
The Prime Minister thanked the ambassador for his
significant role in further strengthening relations
between the two countries during his tenure in Bangladesh.
She also appreciated expansion of trade and investment in
energy and power, infrastructure development, education
and culture between Bangladesh and Korea in the recent
years. Mentioning Korean International Cooperation
Agency's (KOICA) support in training and education sector,
she expressed the hope that the facilities would be
increased in the future.
Sheikh Hasina also appreciated Korean offer for duty-and
quota-free access of Bangladeshi products to the Korean
market to reduce the trade imbalance between the two Asian
countries.
Ambassador-at-Large M Ziauddin, Secretary of the Prime
Minister's Office Molla Waheeduzzaman and Press Secretary
Azad were present on the occasion.
DSE
chief seeks immediate offloading of govt companies’ shares
UNB, Dhaka
Dhaka Stock Exchange president Rakibur Rahman Thursday
urged the government to offload the shares of public
companies asap to feed the oversubscribed capital market,
as investors scramble for good chips.
"The government should immediately take steps to bring the
public companies onto the capital market to increase
supply of shares to stabilize the market," he told
reporters at a press briefing on the price discovery of
RAK Ceramics to offer IPO under book-building method,
first in the country.
He said the stock market is now in a good position as a
huge number of investors lifted up the shallow market. So,
the government should offload more shares through
Public-Private Partnership (PPP) to keep the investors in
the market. Answering to a question, the premier bourse's
chief called upon the government to force multinational
companies to come in capital market, if the companies want
to extend their businesses in the country. The DSE
president emphasized the need for introducing
book-building method to establish a modern pricing for IPO
(initial public offerings) of shares.
Speaking on the occasion, RAK Ceramics Finance Controller
Sangam Lal said the company completed the price discovery
of its shares through bidding by Eligible Institutional
Investors (EII) for initial public offerings (IPO) under
the new stock-trading mechanism.
He said the company is issuing a total of 34.51 million
ordinary shares, of which the EII quota is 6.902 million
shares. The institutional quota was oversubscribed more
than 15 times, 20 percent advance money deposited was Tk
1020 million and total value equivalent to Tk 5058
million. The institutions will not be allowed to sell
shares in the first 15 trading days under the lock-in
system. Face value of each share is Tk 10 while the
indicative price is Tk 40.
The highest bidding price was Tk 48, the lowest bidding
price was Tk 40 while the weighted average price and the
cut-off price were both Tk 48. There are a total of 175
EIIs registered with the system of which 168 participated
in the bidding to fix the price under the book-building
method.
A total of 10 percent shares are reserved for Non-Resident
Bangladeshis, 10 percent for Mutual Funds and 60 percent
for the general public. Chittagong Stock Exchange
President (CSE) Fakhor Uddin Ali Ahmed also addressed at
the press conference.
D-8 meeting accepts emergency food
fund proposal
UNB, Dhaka
Industries Minister Dilip Barua on Thursday said the just
concluded First D-8 Ministerial Meeting on Industries,
held in Tehran, unanimously decided to create an emergency
food fund, which was proposed by Bangladesh to strengthen
food security.
He was briefing reporters at the Industries Ministry
conference room on his return from the D-8 meeting held
February 28-March 2.
The Industries Minister said another feature of the
meeting was the decision on production and marketing of
products labeled as "Made by D-8" with a view to boosting
trade among its member countries
A two-member Bangladesh delegation led by Industries
Minister Dilip Barua took part in the meeting of the
developing eight Islamic countries (D-8). The other
delegation member was Additional Secretary ABM Khurshed
Alam. During his stay to Iran, the Industries visited the
factory of famous Iranian automobile company, SIPA.
Responding to his call, SIPA assured of taking initiatives
to invest in Bangladesh.
Dilip Barua informed that the D-8 meeting also decided to
make a common brand car for use by member countries. Iran,
Turkey and Malaysia have been assigned to design the model
of such a common brand car, he said.
The minister said Bangladesh asked the meeting to increase
food security, enhance agriculture production, establish a
seed bank and create an emergency food fund.
During the D-8 meeting, he said he called for transfer of
hi-tech know-how of Iran and Turkey to the member
countries including Bangladesh.
Bangladesh also urged the D-8 members to come forward with
joint-venture investment in various sectors including 'Halal'
food industry, shipbuilding, automobile, electronics,
fertilizer, furniture and artificial jewelry, as well as
in bio-technology, renewable energy and agro-based
industries. The D-8 member countries' trade volume now
total 3.3 percent of the world trade, which is expected to
reach 10 percent in the next few years, the meeting was
said.
The D-8 member countries are Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia,
Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkey.
Industries Secretary Dewan Zakir Hussain and Additional
Secretary ABM Khurshed Alam were present at the briefing.
Economy still needs stimulus:
India FM
PTI, New Delhi
India's Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Wednesday
said the ongoing economic recovery is still not
broad-based and depends on stimulus measures, even as the
Budget has partially rolled back these steps.
"Recovery continues to be driven by government stimulus
spending, and
is not completely broad-based," Mukherjee told
a Confederation of
Indian Industry (CII) function here Wednesday.
Budget 2011 raised excise duty by 2 per cent to 10 per
cent, to partially rollback stimulus measures. The
Government had cut excise duty by 6 per cent, besides
service tax by 2 per cent to provide stimulus to the
economy hit by the global financial crisis.
The Finance Minister said his objective is not to withdraw
the stimulus measures fully until the fruits of economic
growth is spread to all sectors of the economy and to all
sections of society.
"It is his intention to facilitate the spread of growth
into all sectors of the economy and all sections of
society...Therefore, I have placed growth at the centre of
the Budget," Mukherjee said, adding "the rollback of
stimulus has only been partly carried out in the matter of
excise duty by 2 per cent which is still lower than the
pre-stimulus rate."
Economic growth has slipped to 6 per cent in the third
quarter of this fiscal from 7.9 per cent in the preceding
three months.
The Finance Minister exuded confidence that in the fourth
quarter, economic growth will pick up again. He also
expressed optimism that the economy will clock 8-8.5 per
cent growth next fiscal.
"I am confident that we will be able to achieve 8-8.5 per
cent (growth) in 2010-11 and the Budget is predicted on
that assumption," the Finance Minister Mukherjee said.
He said economic growth can spread to all sections of
society with more effective delivery of public services,
which has long constrained the full benefits of resources
expanded.
"Given this scenario, it was my endeavour to keep the
fiscal deficit at an acceptable level. Budget 2010-11 lays
down a clear direction for the movement of the fiscal
deficit in future years, and should provide considerable
comfort to investors," he said.
Mukherjee said with partial rollback of stimulus, fiscal
deficit is budgeted to be 5.5 per cent of GDP during
2010-11 against revised estimates of 6.7 per cent for the
current fiscal.
"In this Budget, on the one hand, I have introduced tax
reforms which form part of a bigger tax reform strategy
and on the other hand I have allocated required resources
for priority sector to ensure growth with inclusiveness. I
hope that this Budget will help consolidate the gains from
the recovery process," he said.
Crisis over for EEurope, but
growth will be slow
AFP, Vienna
Central and Eastern Europe have emerged from the economic
crisis but steady growth will be slow to come and
unemployment will remain high, the Vienna-based think tank
wiiw said on Thursday.
After a deep recession in 2009, "most countries in the
region have emerged from the trough of the crisis," the
Vienna institute for international economic studies (wiiw)
said in a report published on Thursday.
Poland was the only country in the region to post growth
in 2009 and it was expected again this year to boost the
10 new EU members' average, forecast at 1.0 percent after
a negative 3.6 percent last year.
But individual figures were less positive: while Hungary,
Bulgaria and Romania were expected to post zero-growth in
2010, gross domestic product (GDP) was likely to shrink in
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, by 1.5 percent, 4.5 percent
and 3.0 percent respectively. Wiiw meanwhile forecast 1.0
percent growth for Czech Republic, Slovakia and Slovenia
and 2.5 percent for Poland.
"We expect all countries in the region to be growing again
only by 2011," the institute said. "That growth may
accelerate slightly in 2012, but will in general be slower
than in the pre-crisis period," it added.
For next year, wiiw forecast average growth for the 10 new
member states at 2.8 percent, followed by 3.6 percent in
2012.
EU candidate Turkey was to see 4.0-percent growth this
year, 3.0 percent in 2011 and 5.0 percent in 2012. Croatia
meanwhile was expected to shrink by 1.0 percent this year,
before posting growth of 2.0 and 2.5 percent in the next
two years.
Wiiw also predicted massive growth for non-EU members
Kazakhstan, Russia and Ukraine starting this year. A
prerequisite for growth however was a global recovery,
prompting increased imports to the region, since rising
unemployment would curb private consumption, the institute
insisted.
The jobless rate was also expected to peak this year,
before falling slowly in the years to come. A further
danger was the effect of Greece's current problems on the
region's eurozone prospects, the institute said. "That may
well cross the plans of the new member states that have
based their medium-term economic strategy on the earliest
possible adoption of the euro," it noted.
US economy expands, labor market
soft
AFP, Washington
The US economy continued to expand modestly on the back of
consumer spending but the labor market remained bleak, the
Federal Reserve said in its Beige Book report Wednesday.
The report, to be used by members of the central bank's
policy-making body on March 16, said data from the 12
Federal Reserve districts indicated that "economic
conditions continued to expand" although severe snowstorms
in early February "held back activity" in several areas.
Consumer spending, a critical component of the US economy,
"improved slightly" in many districts since the last
survey, the Fed report said.
Among sectors that saw improvement was services, which
accounts for more than two-thirds of US economic activity,
and manufacturing.
The report said demand for services was "generally
positive across districts," most notably for health-care
and information technology firms, while manufacturing
activity "strengthened in most regions," particularly in
the high-tech equipment, automobile, and metal industries.
National
Tea-orange farming ushers in new
economic era in two northern districts
BSS, Rangpur
Massive steps have been taken for boosting the expanding
small-scale tea and orange farming sectors that has
already got a stronger footing bringing fortunes to
hundreds in sub-Himalayan Panchagarh and Thakurgaon
districts.
The government has taken a Taka 100-crore special package
programme for boosting the growing small-scale tea and
also enhanced the ongoing five-year term expanded orange
farming there with possibilities for expansion in the
adjoining areas.
Under the Taka 100-crore programme being implemented by
Bangladesh Tea Board (BTB), the small and marginal farmers
are being provided with training on the latest
technologies for tea farming, loans, tea saplings and
necessary inputs, officials said.
Besides, the government has been providing necessary
supports including quality saplings, training and
technologies to the farmers under the ongoing five- year
term expanded orange cultivation programme from 2006.
As a result, farming of tea and orange has been expanding
faster in the sub- Himalayan districts bringing huge
changes in the socio-economic conditions of the people.
The prospective tea sector has already created
opportunities for hundreds of working women to change
their fate by achieving self- reliance through earning
wages as plucking workers in tea gardens of the officially
recognized third tea zone in the country. Presently,
nearly 7,500 skilled and unskilled workers, mostly women,
have been working in about 260 tea gardens, including 18
big estates, 13 medium-size and 229 small-scale gardens
set up on about 2,200 acres in Panchagarh alone.
There are tremendous prospects for expanding tea sector
and creating job opportunities to enhance economic
activities further, president of Panchagarh Chamber of
Commerce and Industry Iqbal Kaiser Mintu and Development
Officer of BTB Amir Hossain said.
About 5.37 lakh kg tea was produced during the last season
and a total of about seven lakh kg tea is expected to
produce in Panchagarh alone this season, BTB officials
said.
Small-scale tea farmer Mozahedul Hassan, Abdur Rahman,
Esahaq Ali Mandal, Golam Kibria and Mostafa Jamal and
Motiar Rahman recently told BSS that they have been
farming tea on their lands and lifting adequate tea leaves
every week from the gardens.
Female labourers Mohsina, Bulbuli Begum, Aklima, Morsheda,
Sabina Yasmin, Nasrine Begum, Rozina Begum, and Halima
said that they are hopeful that the authorities will take
necessary steps for expanding the growing tea sector
further in the region.
Like in the tea sector, successful and boosting orange
farming on commercial basis has also ushered in a new era
in the economy of the sub-Himalayan districts in recent
years since 2006.
Presently, over 80,000 orange trees have been growing in
93 orange orchards set up in 104 hectares land and
homesteads in Panchagarh and more 30,000 orange plants in
the 48 hectares land in adjoining Thakurgaon.
The agriculture departments have planted 10,000 orange
plants in the exhibition plots and produced 50,000 orange
saplings last year to assist the people in farming oranges
in their orchards, homesteads and other places, officials
said.
Strengthening of
local govt needed for grassroots dev
BSS, Rajshahi
Speakers at a discussion here on Thursday unequivocally
called for strengthening the local government institutions
for overall development of the nation.
In this context, they also viewed that substantial
development of the ancient local government bodies is
vital for institutionalization of democracy. Rajshahi
divisional unit of Municipal Association of Bangladesh (MAB)
organized the discussion at the conference hall of
Rajshahi Chamber of Commerce and Industry aimed at
strengthening the local government (Municipality). Mayor
of Rajshahi City Corporation AHM Khairuzzaman Liton
addressed the meeting as the chief guest while Chairman of
Barind Multipurpose Development Authority Nurul Islam
Thandu, Deputy Inspector General of Police of Rajshahi
Range Muklesur Rahman as special guests.
In his address of welcome, MAB President of Chairman of
Tangi Pourasava Advocate Azmat Ullah Khan gave an overview
of the municipal administration and its problems and
prospects towards welfare of the grassroots people.
Chaired by MAB Central Committee Vice-president and
Chairman of Bera Pourasava Abdul Baten the meeting was
also addressed, among others, by MAB leaders Shish
Muhammad, Halimul Haque, Shamim al Razi and Ferdoushi
Begum.
The speakers suggested strengthening the local government
institutions to attain cherished development of the nation
through establishing good governance at all tiers of the
grassroots organizations.
Referring to the grim pictures prevailing in the local
government bodies, they viewed that there is no
alternative to power decentralization and strengthening
local government bodies to fulfill the hopes and
aspirations of the grassroots people. Mayor Liton said
actual development of the country could not be possible
until strengthening the local government bodies. He noted
that the local government institutions must be
strengthened for the sake of ensuring development at the
grassroots along with institutionalization of democracy.
Terming the grassroots institutions as the symbol of hopes
and aspirations of the village people, they said the
nation would not be able to reach its cherished goal of
success keeping those neglected.
Due importance should be given to bring all the
development activities under a single umbrella of the
local government institutions for the overall socio-
economic uplift of the rural areas that is essential for
the nation. He observed that balanced development of the
nation has become dependent on the development of the
rural bodies so the existing problems of those must be
solved on a priority basis.
Call
for arranging safe night shelters for street children
BSS, Dhaka
The government has been urged to arrange safe night
shelters for street children through implementing its
election pledge.
The demand was made at a press conference of a research
organization INCIDIN Bangladesh at the Dhaka Reporters
Unity here Thursday.
AKM Mustaque Ali, Executive Director of INCIDIN
Bangladesh, readout a written statement at the press
conference. In the statement he said the street children
are facing physical, mental and sexual abuse since they
have to pass their nights on the footpaths due to absence
of any safe shelter. Mentioning about government and
private initiatives in this regard he said though these
few efforts have arranged shelters for a little number of
street children, most of street children are staying under
open sky in a very insecure condition. "At this, sexually
pervert people and traffickers take chances to abuse or
traffick children," he added.
He referred to advocacy experiences of his organization in
setting up and running safe night shelters for street
children and said a draft work plan on safe night shelter
for street children was formulated in a joint initiative
of INCIDIN Bangladesh and Social Welfare Ministry in June,
2008.
Besides, an inter-ministerial meeting was held in August,
2008 on undertaking a pilot project for implementing the
initiative at Kamalapur rail station and Bir Srestha
Mostafa Kamal Stadium, he said adding: "AN
inter-ministerial committee was also constituted at the
meeting." As per the decision of the first meeting held on
September 23, 2008, the members of the committee along
with deputy secretary (institution) of Social Welfare
Ministry visited the Kamalapur rail station premises on
October 14, 2008 and recommended for implementing the
initiative at a land of BR adjacent to Kamalapur
Sher-e-Bangla Rail Station High School, he said.
With the proposals of the committee, an inter-ministerial
meeting was held in presence of high officials of Social
Welfare Ministry, necessary directives were given to
Architecture Directorate for making and sending site map
to the ministry in order to establish a safe night shelter
center at the proposed site of Kamalapur rail station,
Mustaque Ali said. Besides, a national coordination
committee headed by Social Welfare Secretary was formed
integrating related ministries and divisions, and a local
management committee was formed led by city corporation
councilor and work fields of these committees were
finalized. Responding to the demands of INCIDIN Bangladesh
and street children, some political parties including
Bangladesh Awami League in their election manifestoes
pledged for setting up safe night shelter centers, he
said.
Mentioning about allocation of Taka 5.67 crore for the
first time in the country for establishing safe night
shelters for street children, he said though the historic
initiative of the present democratic government is an
important step towards fulfilling its election pledge, the
much desired tasks of setting up shelter centers is yet to
be completed, he said.
Ratan Sarker, one of the Executive Directors of INCIDIN
Bangladesh said: "The incidents of abuse of street
children happen due to failure in implementing the
decision of setting up safe night shelters, despite state
level decision and government's commitments."
"The solution of this problem could be made through
ensuring safe homes for street children by setting up safe
shelter centers," he added.
He urged the present democratic government for taking
effective measures for setting up safe shelter centers by
overcoming bureaucratic bottlenecks.
UK education fair begins
BSS, Dhaka
The three-day 12th annual education UK Exhibition began
Thursday in the city to help the students with the
admission information to different colleges and
universities in the UK and find out how a UK education
will prepare the students for an exciting career of their
choice. Adviser to the Prime Minister Dr Alauddin Ahmed
inaugurated the exhibition as the chief guest at a city
hotel while British High Commissioner to Bangladesh
Stephen Evansin and Director of British Council Bangladesh
Charles Nuttall attended as special guests.
Dr Alauddin Ahmed urged the UK government to resume UK
student visa for Bangladeshi students as soon as possible.
British High Commissioner Stephen Evansin said we
understand that the recent suspension of student visa
applications may be causing concern for genuine students
who wish to study in the UK. Head of Performance,
Marketing and Communication of British Council Bangladesh
Raiqah Walie-Khan conducted the inaugural session.
Organised by the British Council, the first two days of
the fair will be held in Hotel Sheraton in Dhaka and the
third day fair on March 7 will be held in Peninsula Hotel
in Chittagong. The exhibition will remain open in Dhaka on
March 4 and 5 from 11 am to 8 pm at the Winter Garden of
the Sheraton Hotel. In Chittagong, the exhibition will be
held on March 7 from 11 am to 8 pm at the Peninsula Hotel.
The entry fee to the education UK Exhibition is Taka 50
and will include a welcome pack with information on all
the UK institutions attending.
A total of 37 educational institutions of UK are taking
part in the fair. Their representatives would provide
information to the students and guardians, said the
organisers.
The participating institutions include; Birmingham City
University, Bradford College, Cardiff University, City of
London College, Leads Metropolitan University, Liverpool
Hope University, London Metropolitan University, The
University of Nottingham, University of Bedfordshire,
London Academy of Management and Sciences and University
of Greenwich.
Eye-catching mango sprouting
forecasts excellent production in Rajshahi region
BSS, Rajshahi
As the winter season said goodbye couples of days ago,
thousands of mango trees have developed flowers massively
in the greater Rajshahi region, traditionally known as the
hub of the delicious fruit.
Most of the grownup mango trees in the orchards,
homesteads and roadsides have worn eye-catching looks with
huge bloom everywhere in the region predicting excellent
production of mango this season if climate remains
favorable all along. Agronomists, experts and farmers told
BSS that a record over 95 per cent mango trees have
already bloomed as a suitable climate has been prevailing
for the farming.
After witnessing the present condition the growers,
traders and the officials are very optimistic over an
expected yield of the seasonal fruit.
"Huge buds appeared in mango trees in the region this
season and I have never seen such happening in my 45-year
life," said farmer Nurul Islam of Shibganj under
Chapainawabganj. He mentioned that flowering has been
nearing completion and formation of mango has begun in the
early varieties. As per directions of the scientists and
experts, the farmers have been taking extensive
preparations, cares and measures to make mango farming
successful this year and they are busy in spraying and
caring of their trees now in their orchards and
homesteads. He added that the mango formation and
production from the blossomed trees would mount to an
excellent level to increase the overall production of the
most delicious fruits this year if the climate remains
favourable during the next few months.
"The flowering began at the end of January and will
continue till mid of the current month when all the mango
trees will be blossomed," said Senior Scientific Officer
Alim Uddin of Fruit Research Station here adding that the
yield might be a bumper if the weather remains favorable
during the next farming period of the cash crop.
Sports
Gao reaches last four
TBT report
Xin Gao of China reached the semifinals of the 24th Bangladesh
ITF Junior Tennis Championship defeating Chieh-Fu Wang of
Chinese Taipei 6-4, 6-3 in the quarterfinal at Ramna National
Tennis Complex in the city on Thursday.
Bowen Ouyang, Sai Kartik Nakireddi and Mohit Mayur Jayaprakh
also advanced to the semifinals winning their respective
quarterfinal matches.
Bowen Ouyang (China) beat Phassawit Bura-pharitta (Thailand)
7-5, 3-6, 7-6, Sai Kartik Nakireddi (India) beat Haadin Bava
(India) 6-2, 2-0 retired, while Mohit Mayur Jayaprakh (India)
beat Ting Yu Chuang (Chinese Taipei) 6-3, 6-3 to make it to
the next round.
In the girls' singles, Saisai Zheng (China) beat Trang Huynh
Phung Dai (Vietnam) 6-2, 6-3; Sabina Sharipova (Uzbekistan)
beat Meng Ning Deng (China) 6-3, 6-0; Ratnika Batra (India)
beat Xi Yang (China) 6-0, 3-6, 6-4 to reach the semifinals.
 Argentina
outshines Germany 1-0
AFP, Munich
Argentina's larger-than-life coach Diego Maradona did much to
silence his critics on Wednesday with a 1-0 away win against
fellow World Cup favourites Germany through a Gonzalo Higuain
strike.
"God willing, we are going to give our people a good World
Cup," the 49-year-old, pictured in the German press smoking
cigars this week while his team trained, said after the
friendly in Munich's Allianz Arena.
Ninety-nine days before the World Cup in South Africa, the
clash found "El Diez" under some pressure after the 1978 and
1986 winners came within a whisker of not qualifying and for
his selection of over 100 different players.
But his side outshone Germany on Wednesday.
Although it was Germany's Philipp Lahm who had the first shot
of the match, it was the visitors who looked the more
dangerous of the two sides.
Fifteen minutes later, Angel di Maria dribbled his way past a
sea of German defenders to fire off a shot.
Germany 'keeper Rene Adler, fresh from being named Germany's
first-choice goalie for the World Cup this week, pulled off a
spectacular save, deflecting the ball onto the woodwork.
But then just before the break, disaster struck for the
Germans with a slip-up from Adler, who plays for high-flying
Bundesliga outfit Bayer Levekusen, that made his selection
look not quite so shrewd.
Adler sprinted out of his goal to intercept the ball from a
fast-approaching Higuain, but the Real Madrid star won the
challenge, rounded the 'keeper and tapped into the open goal.
"Mistakes get punished at this level," said Germany coach
Joachim Loew, who was assistant coach when Germany beat
Argentina in a penalty shootout in the 2006 World Cup
quarter-finals.
"Argentina really was a very, very strong team with lots of
strong individual players. We didn't manage to build up
pressure today, to make use of chances."
The episode was much to the disapproval of long-term 'keeper
Oliver "King" Kahn, now resigned to the commentary box.
"If you leave your goal you have to make sure you get the
ball. Otherwise you should stay on your line," he said. In the
second half both sides made changes up front, Manchester
City's Carlos Tevez for Higuain and for the Germans,
Brazilian-born Stuttgart star Cacau for Werder Bremen's Mesut
Ozil.
The Germans came out looking in better nick than in the first
period, winning more possession and creating more pressure in
the opponents' half, but they never looked really dangerous.
Their best chances came though Cacau, who has been on
sparkling form in the Bundesliga, with shots in the 77th and
83rd minutes, the second a half-volley which whistled over the
crossbar.
"Our mistake was not to take more risks up front," said
Germany captain Michael Ballack.
According to Fifa's latest world rankings, Germany is number
five - four places above Argentina at nine, one behind
England.
Argentina is drawn against Nigeria, South Korea and Greece in
the World Cup, which runs from June 11 to July 11 in South
Africa. Germany will face Ghana, Serbia and Australia.
Bangladesh takes on England in
final ODI today
UNB, Chittagong
Bangladesh takes on visiting England in the 3rd and final
match of the Beximco ODI Series at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury
Stadium in Chittagong today.
Bangladesh, which al-ready lost the three-match ODI series
0-2, needs at least a consolation win in the today's 3rd
ODI to boost the team's morale ahead of the two-match Test
series that will begin on March 12 at the same venue.
Talking to reporters on Thursday, Bangladesh skipper
Shakib Al Hasan said: "We believe we can beat any side if
we play to our ability. We'll definitely try to win the
game… we just need to perform well and keep doing our
jobs."
He said although Bangladesh already handed over the series
to England, but they would take to the field tomorrow in
quest of a maiden victory over the visitors in the final
ODI. Shakib said his team is gelling well in the build-up
to the 2011 World Cup in exactly 12 months' time, and
regards the final ODI against England in Chittagong as an
opportunity to lay down a significant marker at a venue
where the two teams are set to meet again in the group
stages of the World Cup.
On March 11 next year, England will return to Chittagong
for their 5th match of the World Cup, and the showdown
could potentially prove crucial to their prospects of
reaching the quarter-final knock-outstages.
Spain puts Domenech in doldrums
AFP, Paris
Spain confirmed their position among the World Cup
favourites with a dominant 2-0 victory over France in
their friendly match at the Stade de France here on
Wednesday.
The European champions prevailed through first-half goals
from David Villa and Sergio Ramos, inflicting upon their
hosts a first defeat in 13 home games.
Worse for France was their powerlessness in the face of
Spain's masterful control of possession and the home fans
made their feelings known at regular intervals by
imploring under-fire coach Raymond Domenech to resign.
The enigmatic 58-year-old has seen his popularity plummet
since leading France to the 2006 World Cup final and the
defeat will increase calls for him to step down before
this summer's finals in South Africa.
Key Spanish dangermen Xavi and Fernando Torres did not
even make an appearance until half-time, but although the
scoreline remained the same until the end, the damage had
already been done.
"Losing makes nobody happy but Spain confirmed tonight
that they are big favourites for the World Cup," said
Domenech.
"We lost thanks to two mistakes, two pieces of poor
positioning after we gave the ball away in midfield. To
beat Spain you have to be exceptional. We weren't tonight,
but we have three months to prepare for the World Cup."
Thierry Henry, representing his country for the first time
since his infamous handball in the play-off victory over
Ireland in November, was whistled when he left the field
in the second half, while the French fans took to airing
their frustrations by cheering every completed Spanish
pass.
Florent Malouda headed against the post from fellow
substitute Djibril Cisse's right-wing cross in the 80th
minute and it was to prove the closest the hosts came to a
breakthrough.
Sevilla winger Jesus Navas almost made it 3-0 in injury
time but his shot across goal from the inside-right
channel flashed narrowly wide.
"There was a bit of everything, good and not so good,"
said Spain coach Vicente Del Bosque."
France had made an industrious start, with Franck Ribery a
persistently menacing presence on the right of midfield.
The hosts, though, were playing with an untested
centre-back pairing of debutant Michael Ciani and Julien
Escude, and cracks quickly appeared.
Sergio Busquets gave the home side a warning in the 19th
minute when he met a corner unmarked and flashed a header
narrowly wide.
Howard welcomes India's new-found
influence
AFP, Sydney
Former Australian Prime Minister John Howard has welcomed
India's new-found influence over world cricket as he
prepares to become the sport's governing body chief in
2012.
Howard, who is facing a challenge to win over Asian
nations, according to Sri Lankan great Muttiah
Muralitharan, said India's growing power was positive for
the sport.
"India is the second most populous country in the world,
it's cricket-mad, they are pluses," Howard told state
radio on Wednesday.
"I think it's entirely wrong to look at the Indian
involvement in cricket in a negative light.
"I think of those millions of people in India and the
sub-continent... who play cricket. They play it with a
passion and love it."
Howard, a self-confessed "cricket tragic", has been
nominated for the rotating International Cricket Council
presidency and will take over from India's Sharad Pawar in
2012.
Muralitharan said he had forgiven Howard for labelling him
a "chucker", but added that it would not be easy for the
conservative former leader to get South Asian nations
on-side.
"It won't be an easy job. He has to convince the
subcontinent-that's going to be a tough challenge for
him," Muralitharan told the Sydney Morning Herald.
India's huge market has made it cricket's most important
powerbase, with its Indian Premier League Twenty20
tournament handing out lucrative contracts to the world's
best players.
Howard also defended his suitability for the role despite
having no experience of sports administration, unlike the
New Zealand contender John Anderson.
Spain gunning for Davis Cup hattrick
AFP, Paris
Spain open its campaign to clinch the first hattrick of
Davis Cup wins since the United States in 1972 with a home
tie against Switzerland on Thursday but neither Rafael
Nadal nor Roger Federer will be involved.
The absence of the two superstars of world tennis is
indicative of the current problems facing the supreme team
title in tennis that was first contested in 1900. With the
physical demands on players more and more acute, the big
names in the game are opting out of defending the colours
of their respective countries in the competition.
Federer and Nadal apart, this week's World Group first
round ties will be notable for the absences, either
through injury or choice, of Juan del Potro of Argentina,
Andy Roddick of the United States and Russia's Nikolai
Davy-denko. British No.1 Andy Murray meanwhile has
declined selection for his country in the zonal third-tier
match against Lithuania.
Doubts over the future of the Davis Cup were voiced at the
Australian Open in January when it was confirmed that
discussions were underway to develop a credible
alternative to the gruelling three-day format that would
be acceptable to the players.
Mum to stay away from Delhi Games
AFP, Sydney
Australia's triple Olympic gold medallist Leisel Jones
said Thursday she had ordered her mum to stay away from
the New Delhi Commonwealth Games because of security
concerns.
The champion breaststroker said she was prepared to
compete in India but feared for her mother's safety
outside of the secure zones for athletes at the October
Games. "I would not allow her to be there and it would
play on my mind if she was there, knowing that she does
not have the security that we do and would not be looked
after as much as we would," Jones told reporters. "It is
always a little bit scary so I said 'Mum, I don't want you
coming to India'." Three-time Olym-pian Jones, 24, has
committed to swimming through to the 2012 London Games.
It is a boost for Australian swimming following the
retirement of Ian Thorpe, Grant Hackett and Libby Trickett.
"I have made the decision to go ahead and not one foot in
and one foot out the door," Jones said ahead of the
Common-wealth Games trials in Sydney, starting on March
16. "I can prove my longevity in the sport. I can be the
first (Australian) swimmer to do four Olympics and that
would be a great achievement.
"I am still mentally prepared for everything and focused
and still enjoying my swimming." Jones believes she is the
best female breaststroker after skipping last year's world
championships in Rome, which were beset by the swimsuit
wars.
"I consider myself to be the fastest and I would love the
opportunity to race against the guys coming up this year
whether it be (Americans) Rebecca Soni or Jessica Hardy or
anyone," she said.
Subs spare England's blushes
AFP, London
Substitutes Peter Crouch and Shaun Wright-Phillips spared
England further embarrassment as Fabio Capello's
scandal-tarnished squad came from behind to register a 3-1
win over Egypt.
The recently-crowned African champions had looked on
course for a landmark victory on their first appearance at
Wembley when Mohamed Zidan translated their initial
superiority into a first-half lead.
But Crouch's entry at the interval proved to be the
catalyst for a significant improvement with the Tottenham
striker bolstering his claim to a starting role at the
World Cup by claiming a couple of goals either side of a
strike from Wright-Phillips.
That was enough to transform an evening that had the
potential to go badly wrong for Capello, with the hangover
from recent off-the-pitch issues evident in the boos
received by John Terry on his first outing since being
stripped of the captaincy. England were on the back foot
for long spells in the opening period, but might easily
have gone ahead inside five minutes, with the cocktail of
Wayne Rooney's eye for a pass and Theo Walcott's pace
causing tremors on the left side of the visitors' defence.
Walcott's cutback was delivered into the path of Frank
Lampard but the Chelsea midfielder pushed his shot tamely
at goalkeeper Essam El Hadary.
Egypt were soon in the ascendancy however and England were
fortunate that the unmarked Wael Gomaa was unable to
connect cleanly with a volley from eight yards out.
Zidan quickly signalled his threat by getting in front of
Terry to head over the bar and, then again, when driving
narrowly wide after escaping Matthew Upson on the edge of
the area.
Egypt's nimble passing and penetrating wing backs were
unsettling England and it was no surprise when Zidan gave
the visitors a 23rd-minute lead, aided by a slip from
Upson which enabled him to collect Hosny Abd Rabou's pass
unchallenged.
The Borussia Dortmund striker still had plenty to do but a
deft first touch denied Upson the time to recover and the
shot was planted confidently beyond Robert Green's left
hand.
England's best chance of an equaliser before the break
fell to Lampard, after Gareth Barry's header from a
Leighton Baines corner had been blocked. The Chelsea
midfielder got slightly over the top of his strike and the
ball bounced off the Wembley turf and up over the bar.
El Hadary did well to beat away Jermain Defoe's fierce
shot after the Tottenham striker had got clear through the
inside left channel, and Egypt's goalkeeper also had to be
alert when another Baines corner ended up ricocheting
goalwards off Terry.
Ctg Abahani downs Muktijoddha
TBT report
Chittagong Abahani re-corded its second victory in the
Bangladesh League football competition when the port city
team defeated Muktijoddha Sangsad Krira Chakra 2-1 at
Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka on Thursday.
With the first half ended scoreless, play picked up pace
after the change of ends and Mithun Chowdhury pulled off
the first breakthrough for the visitors.
Eugene put the sides on terms with his 75th-minute strike
but the hosts failed to keep up the parity as Shakhawat
Hossain scored in the second half injury time to snatch a
2-1 victory for the Chittagong side.
Chittagong Abahani earned eight points from eight matches,
while Muktijoddha secured four points after eight outings.
Australia clinches biggest World
Cup win
AFP, New Delhi
Title favourite Australia swept aside South Africa 12-0 on
Thursday to record the biggest victory in the history of
the men's field hockey World Cup.
Penalty corner specialist Luke Doerner slammed four goals,
Jamie Dwyer three and Glenn Turner two as the Australians
gave the South Africans a hockey lesson in their first Cup
meeting.
The 11th goal in the 66th minute, which was attributed to
Doerner, was later awarded to Dwyer by the technical
bench.
Desmond Abbott, Fergus Kavanagh and Matthew Butturini were
the other scorers in a spectacular goal spree at the Dhyan
Chand National Stadium in the Indian capital.
The Kookaburras, who led 5-0 at half-time, surpassed
Pakistan's 12-3 romp over New Zealand in the 1982 edition
in Mumbai, which was the previous highest victory margin
in the World Cup.
"I did not know it was a record, but it is not everyday
that we score 12 goals in a match," said Australian coach
Ric Charlesworth.
"This will help us in future games. I liked the way we
played throughout the match. We were relentless. We
attacked the opponents in a very good manner. I am also
very pleased with our penalty corner con-versions."
Australia, who lost their opening match against England,
bounced back in style to defeat hosts India 5-2 and have
now taken their Group B tally to six points from three
matches.
European champions England, who have six points from two
games, take on Pakistan later on Thursday.
India and Spain, with three points each, clash in the
evening's last match.
South Africa have lost all three matches so far, scoring
six goals and conceding 22.
"We are extremely disappointed," said South African
captain Austin Smith. "The scoreline suggests Australia
were too good for us. It is difficult to pick ourselves up
after such a loss because we are a young side."
Int'l
chess to take place in Cox’s Bazar
UNB, Dhaka
The Parachute Advance International Chess Tournament,
organized by Six Seasons Chess and sponsored by Marico
Bangladesh Ltd., will begin at the tourist resort of Cox's
Bazar on March 8.
Ten players from Bangladesh, India, Iran, Malaysia and
Russia will take part in the week-long meet, which offers
an opportunity to earn a norm for Women's Grandmaster and
Women's International Master.
The tournament will be held on round-robin league system.
Country's first grand-master Niaz Murshed, who also heads
the Six Seasons Chess, disclosed this at a press
conference at the NSC conference room today (Thursday).
Inter-national Arbiter Haroon Or Rashid was present.
Six Seasons Chess will also organize a Grand-masters
Tournament in Dhaka from March 15-21, Murshed informed.
Ten players, including GM Niaz Murshed, GM Dibyendu Barua
and GM Yuldachev Saidali will parti-cipate in the
tournament.
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