wednesday, MAY 19, 2010 Jyestha 5, 1417, JAMADIUS SANI 3, 1431 Hijri

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Leading News

Joint Communiqué
Dhaka and Seoul pledge to step up cooperation
Sheikh Hasina, Lee vow to strengthen ties

UNB, Seoul

Bangladesh and South Korea on Tuesday agreed to intensify cooperation in trade, investment, transfer of technology, energy and infrastructure development for mutual benefit.
This was announced in a joint communiqué issued at the end of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's three-day official visit to Seoul from May 16-18.
The communiqué says Korea expressed its commitment to continue to offer assistance in support of the economic and social development of Bangladesh. The Korean side also expressed its willingness to favorably consider increasing the amount of Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF) loans.
It says the two sides will take active measures to expand bilateral trade and work together to achieve trade balance as they viewed that economic cooperation and trade constitute an important part of the comprehensive partnership between the two countries.
The Bangladesh side requested for the further expansion of duty-free coverage of Bangladeshi products both under the Asia Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA) and through the Korean duty-free quota-free scheme for LDCs under the WTO. The Korean side agreed to explore ways to accord further duty-free market access to more Bangladesh products.
The communiqué says the Bangladesh side expressed its deep appreciation for the grant assistance provided by the Korean government and requested for increased grant assistance on human resource development projects, including the establishment of more vocational training institutions, as well as nursing and IT training institutes.
The Bangladesh side welcomed the active involvement of Korean enterprises in the energy, communications, transportation, industry, and infrastructure sectors of Bangladesh. In response to Bangladesh's request, the communiqué says the Korean side agreed to explore ways to support capacity building, including on-site training, in the emerging shipbuilding industry of Bangladesh.
The Bangladesh side expressed its deep appreciation for increasing the quota for workers from Bangladesh under the Employment Permit System (EPS), and both sides agreed to explore ways in which Bangladesh workers can further contribute to the economies of both countries.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina extended an invitation to President Lee Myung-bak to pay a visit to Bangladesh at a mutually convenient time. The President expressed his appreciation and accepted the invitation with pleasure.
Earlier, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak on Tuesday vowed to strengthen bilateral economic and trade cooperation for the mutual benefit. The determination was expressed in the opening remarks by the two leaders who held one-hour summit talks at the President Office in the morning discussing the entire range of bilateral issues.
President Lee praised Sheikh Hasina's leadership enabling the country to achieve 6.5 percent economic growth last year despite global economic turmoil. The President said 150 Korean companies are operating in Bangladesh creating employment of 100,000 Bangladeshi workers.
The Prime Minister said the way Korea has become a developed country by recovering from economic adversity could be a role model for a country like Bangladesh.
Hasina hoped that her visit would open up a new vista in bilateral cooperation between Dhaka and Seoul. She thanked the Korean leader for recognizing Bangladesh on May 12, 1972.

 Dr Yunus, 15 others summoned by court for alleged land grabbing

UNB, Gazipur

Nobel Laureate Prof. Dr. Muhammad Yunus and another 15 people have been summoned by a Gazipur court in case for alleged grabbing of 15.60 acres of land in Kashimpur union of Sadar upazila of the district.
Dr. Roushan Alam, managing director of Libra Pharmaceuticals Ltd., filed the suit on Sunday (May 16) with the first court of the Joint District Judge against 16 persons, including Grameen Telecom Ltd director and chief patron Dr Yunus.
Other accused are: Grameen Telecom's managing director Ashraful Hasan, Prasad Paradise Ltd chairman Abu Yusuf Md Abdullah, Maj (retd) Mostafa Kamal, Nasir Uddin, Khokon Chowdhury, Chowdhury Moniruzzaman (Manik), Nazmul Islam, Abu Naim Mohammad Maksudur Rahman, Maj (retd) Akramuzzaman, Ashraf Ali, Ahsanullah, Multimax International Ltd managing director KM Alamgir, Anwar Kamal Pasha, Gazipur DC and Gazipur Sadar Sub-register.
The plaintiff's counsel, Pear Ali, said that on March 7 this year the accused persons along with their people occupied the land bought by the plaintiff.
He said Dr. Roushan Alam, managing director of Libra Pharmaceuticals Ltd., purchased the land from its legal owners as per records in 1998.
To recover the land, Dr Roushan Alam filed the case with the first court of Gazipur District Joint Judge on May 16 (Sunday). Judge Joysree Samaddar issued the summons against the accused persons and fixed August 10 for next hearing.

 Pipeline wheeling charge
Court rules in favour of BD in int’l arbitration against Chevron

UNB, Dhaka

Bangladesh has won an international arbitration case filed by US-based international oil company Chevron, which had claimed a 4 percent payback that the state-owned Petrobangla has been deducting as wheeling charge from its payment to the US Company against the gas purchase.
Petrobangla deducts the amount on account of using a gas pipeline by Chevron to reach gas to a receiving point. But the deduction was unacceptable to Chevron, which prompted the company to lodge a petition at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Dispute (ICSID), a World Bank body. After a series of hearings over the last two years, the ICSID released its judgment on Tuesday.
According to Petrobangla, as Bangladesh won the case, the country need not pay a huge amount of US$ 312.9 million (about Tk 2100 crore) upto the year 2032. Upto 2010, the payment claim had been $ 70.6 million.
Welcoming the ICSID's judgment, Petrobangla Chairman Dr. Hossain Mansur said Bangladesh is always respectful of any judgment in international arbitration courts.
"I hope Chevron will have similar respect for the judgment and that this will not harm the existing healthy relation between the two sides," he told UNB.
No immediate reaction was received from the Chevron management on the judgment.
When contacted, a spokesman for the company said, "Chevron is reviewing the decision of the ICSID and expects to have a statement today".
Industry insiders said the ICSID award and decision provide further evidence that the ICSID arbitration process provides fair and meaningful arbitration awards. They thought that the country and Petrobangla should be proud they have been positively recognized by the international business community for resolving a dispute through the ICSID arbitration process.
In the arbitration, Eminent Bangladeshi lawyer Dr. Kamal Hossain moved the case as Petrobangla's lawyer while Chevron appointed its lawyers from different western countries. The Arbitration Tribunal was constituted comprising its members Thomas Buergenthal (U.S.), President; John Beechey (British); and Fali S. Nariman (Indian).
The dispute over the 4 percent wheeling charge has been a longstanding issue between Petrobangla and Chevron.
Under the existing gas sales and purchase agreement in the framework of the Production Sharing Contract (PSC), Petrobangla purchases gas from Chevron in different gas fields developed and operated by the US company.
Among the fields, Petrobangla has been deducting the 4 percent wheeling charge from its payments to Chevron for its purchase of gas from the Jalalabad gas field. A pipeline is being used to carry the gas from Chevron's Jalalabad field into Petrobangla's own network.

     BNP’s Dhaka grand rally today
8,000 police, RAB to ensure security

UNB, Dhaka

Some 8,000 members of police and RAB will be on alert to ensure peaceful holding of main opposition BNP's declared grand rally at Paltan Maidan today.
Besides, 25 Close Circuit cameras have already been set up to monitor movements of people in and around the Paltan Maidan side by side vigilance of intelligence agencies.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner AKM Shahidul Haq and Commanding Officer of RAB-3 Lt Col Mamun Mahmud Firoz visited Paltan Maidan on Tuesday afternoon to monitor security arrangements in the field.
Talking to reporters after the visit the DMP Commissioner said police have already taken foolproof security measures. One thousand policemen would be deployed inside the Paltan Maidan, while 5,000 others would be on duty outside the field to avert any unpleasant incident.
Leaders and activists have to enter the rally through security checks, he said seeking cooperation from BNP.
Lt Col Mamun said the elite force has also taken special security measures.
He said around 2000 RAB members will perform their duties in and around the Paltan Maidan.

   Depression in the Bay turns into cyclone
UNB, Dhaka

The cyclonic storm 'Laila' over southeast Bay and adjoining southwest Bay moved slightly northwest wards over southwest Bay and adjoining southeast Bay.
It was centered at 6pm on Tuesday about 1290 kms southwest of Chittagong Port, 1220 kms southwest of Cox's Bazar port and 1185 kms south-southwest of Mongla port.
It is likely to intensify further and move in a northwesterly direction, said a special bulletin of Met Office.
Maximum sustained wind speed within 54 kms of the depression centre is about 62 kph rising to 88 kph in gusts or squalls. Sea will remain very rough.
Maritime ports of Chittagong, Cox's Bazar and Mongla have been advised to keep hoisted distant warning signal number two.
All fishing boats and trawlers over north Bay and deep sea have been advised to remain close to the coast and proceed with caution until further notice and not to venture into deep sea.

   10 killed, 80 hurt in road crashes in Rajbari, Bagerhat and Dhaka

UNB, Dhaka

Ten people were killed and over 80 others injured in separate road accidents in Rajbari and Bagerhat districts Tuesday.
In Rajbari, Five people, including a mother and her son, were killed and 25 others injured in a head-on collision between two buses at Nimtala in Sadar upazila on Daulatdia-Khulna road early Tuesday. Three of the deceased were identified as bus driver Abdur Rashid,45, Runu Akther,35 and her two and half years old son Hasib.
In Bagerhat, Three people were killed and another 50 injured as an overloaded bus crashed into a tree at Fatehpur village in Sadar upazila on Bagerhat- Pirojpur road.
The deceased were identified as Abdus Salam, 45 of Bajikarkhanda village of Mongla upazila, Kulsum Begum, 28 and her daughter Sonia, 2, of Baroikhali village of Morelganj upazila.
Meanwhile, two children were killed and at least 10 people injured when a covered van rammed into roadside at Jurain rail gate Monday night.
Police and locals said driver of the van coming from Chittagong lost control over the steering and rammed into the pedestrians leaving two children dead on the spot and 10 people injured at 10-30 pm.
Identity of the dead was not immediately available. The injured were rushed to the hospital and clinics. Police seized the van but its driver and helper managed to flee.

Back Page

South Korea a special friend of Bangladesh, says Hasina
UNB, Seoul

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday called the Republic of Korea (ROK) "a special friend" deeply involved in the socio-economic development of Bangladesh.
She made the remark at a luncheon hosted by South Korean President Lee Myung-bak at Cheong Wa Dae Presidential Palace.
Hasina said the Korean International Cooperation Agency has been providing sustained financial and technical assistance to Bangladesh' s poverty-alleviation efforts, infrastructure and other areas of development.
"Your invaluable support since the establishment of diplomatic ties has raised our countries' relations to an enviable level," she said. The Prime Minister said this was her first visit to the Republic of Korea and she was truly overwhelmed by the beauty of the country.
"I also see a country which has creatively woven a social tapestry finely blending traditional culture with modernism," she said, adding "your warmth and hospitality retains its traditional character, and imbues me with the feeling of being at home in Seoul."
Hasina said in recent years bilateral relations have been translated into enhanced bilateral trade and investment in Bangladesh.
She said her meeting with President Lee was fruitful particularly in identifying new areas of cooperation. "Our agreement to upgrade our relationship to the level of comprehensive partnership would assuredly deepen our friendship and cooperation."
The Prime Minister said she was convinced that the people and the government of Republic of Korea will be with Bangladesh in her quest for progress.
"I foresee today a beautiful future in our two countries' relations and this makes me happy. Indeed, the years of our mutually beneficial efforts have come to fruition beckoning a future of prosperity and peace for our two countries and peoples."

   President asks public universities to take stern action against teachers’ immoral deeds

UNB, Dhaka

President Zillur Rahman on Tuesday asked the Vice Chancellors of public universities to take immediate and appropriate measures against the immoral deeds of teachers to ensure safe and high-status educational atmosphere at the respective campuses.
"Nowadays, the question is raised about the moral standard of a few university teachers. Reports of their moral degradation are found in newspapers, which is very disgraceful and unfortunate for the nation," he said.
The President voiced his concern when a delegation of Association of Univer-sities of Bangladesh (AUB) led by its president Prof Dr Pran Gopal Dutta called on him at Bangabhaban.
Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid, Chairman of University Grants Commis-sion Prof. Nazrul Islam and Vice Chancellors of all public universities were present during the meeting.
Addressing the delegation, President Zillur Rahman also asked the Vice chancellors to tackle the student unrests with tolerance and prudence, as attempts are being made to destabilize the educational atmosphere at the universities. "Recently, we noticed that different student organizations were trying to create unstable atmosphere at the universities.
Such activities are not desirable for the greater interest of the nation and country," he said.
The President said steps should be taken to fill up all vacancies to smoothly run the academic activities.
He urged the VCs to take stern action against the teachers who went abroad for higher studies or researches with scholarships but are staying there even after their duration has expired. "If necessary, steps must be taken for alternative recruitments against such posts," he said.

    World Hepatitis Day today
170 million suffer from Hepatitis worldwide

UNB, Dhaka

World Hepatitis Day will be observed across the country as across the world on May 19, aiming to raise global awareness of hepatitis B and hepatitis C and encourage prevention, diagnosis and treatment.
President Zillur Rahman and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in separate messages urged all to come forward to prevent the liver disease through creating awareness among the country's people.
In a message, President Zillur Rahman said that the liver is an important part of the human body and many people have fallen in liver disease including Hepatitis due to want of proper knowledge and awareness. He also stressed the need for informing people about the liver disease to prevent the Hepatitis.
In another message, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said that as the patients of Hepatitis virus have been increasing all over the country along with the globe, a strong awareness program and proper treatment facilities will be ensured to check the disease. She also urged the physician community to be more dedicated in providing their service among the country's people.
Approximately 170 million people worldwide have either hepatitis B or hepatitis C. This represents 1 in 12 people, and was the basis for the 2008 World Hepatitis Day. If left untreated and unmanaged, hepatitis B or C can lead to advanced liver scarring (cirrhosis) and other complications including liver cancer or liver failure. Every year 1.5 million people die from either hepatitis B or C.
World Hepatitis Day is led by the World Hepatitis Alliance, which represents 200 patients groups and organizations including the Hepatitis C Trust, the Euro-pean Liver Patient Associ-ation and the Chinese Foun-dation for Hepatitis Preve-ntion & Control.

  Amir Khasru comes under fire; Manzurul declares himself mayor candidate

UNB, Chittagong

Chittagong city BNP general secretary Dr Shahadat Hossain on Tuesday squ-arely blamed its president Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury for misguiding party chairperson in choosing mayoral candidate in the ensuing city polls.
A hopeful of party nomination Shahadat's venting of displeasure against the leadership manifested dee-pening conflict in the party in Chittagong.
Disappointed he told newsmen in his private chamber that Khassru had manipulated and mislead the party high command in choosing a low level, controversial candidate. "Manzurul Alam is not a candidate fit to contest Awami League's giant Mohiuddin Chow-dhury." he said.
Shahdat said Manzurul Alam is a close aide of incumbent Mayor and city Awami League president Mohiuddin Chowdhury.
He was critical of Khasru. "Amir Khasru is running the party in Chittagong without taking opinions of others. Even he didn't take opinion from me before finalizing Manzurul Alam Manzu as mayor candidate," he said. Nomination of Manzurul Alam is a clear example of how he (Amir Khasru) is running the party after being elected city unit president, he added.
Shahadat said the choice of Mayor candidate has frustrated the grass-root level leaders and activists.
Earlier, Chittagong-based BNP senior leaders finalized three names- Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, Shahadat Hossain and Dastagir Chowdhury- as possible mayor candidate.
Meanwhile, Manzurul Alam who dashed to Chittagong after receiving the green signal in Dhaka late Monday night declared him the party's mayoral candidate at a press conference in the press club. None of the cty BNP leaders was present at the press conference.
Replying to a question, he said BNP leaders would soon join him in election campaign. He also said that he would collect nomination papers today Wednesday in the morning.

    HC bans conversion of Lal Dighi into swimming pool
UNB, Dhaka

The High Court on Tues-day imposed a three-month ban on converting the Lal Dighi, a public water body in Chittagong, into a swimming pool.
An HC division bench comprising Justice AHM Sham-suddin Chowdhury and Justice M Delwar Hosain passed the interim order of injunction upon a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) writ petition filed by Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers' Association (BELA).
The bench also issued a rule asking the Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) and the government to explain within four weeks why they should not be directed to protect the Lal Dighi from unlawful earth filling for construction of a swimming pool by the CCC.
Besides, the HC asked the respondents to explain why direction should not be given to restore the Lal Dighi to its original position and ensure its preservation and proper maintenance. Among others, the CCC mayor, secretaries to the ministries of Housing and Public Works, Land, Envir-onment and Forest, director general of department of environment, chairman of Chittagong Develo-pment Authority, deputy commissioner of Chittagong, have been made respondents in the rule. The PIL petitioner in its writ petition said that Lal Dighi, measuring 1 acre and 3875 decimal of land situated at Andorkilla in Chitta-gong, has been earmarked as a 'dighi'(water reservoir) for the use of the public as per the Chittagong Metro-politan Master Plan and the detailed area plan.
The CCC move to convert the historic Lal Dighi into a swimming pool is in total disregard of the existing laws of the land and a denial of public interest. Advocate Iqbal Kabir appeared for PIL petitioner BELA.

    Ahsanullah Master Flyover opens to traffic on May 23
BSS, Gazipur

Traffic jam in Dhaka and Tongi will be reduced to a great extent as the Shaheed Ahsanullah Master Flyover adjacent to Tongi Rail Station will be opened to traffic on May 23.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is expected to inaugurate the flyover built at a cost of nearly Taka 24 crore on the day. Roads and Highways Department sources said the construction work of the flyover began on March 16 in 2006 and Taka 18.33 crore was earmarked to complete the flyover on March 15 in 2008.
In the preliminary design, the length of the flyover was 42.68 meters and the link roads on both sides was 450 meters.
But the local people started movement demanding changes in its design as there was no arrangement for movement of the people under the flyover. In the face of the movement, the work of the flyover stopped within 7/8 months.
Later in June 2007, the work of the flyover resumed as per a revised design. In the changed design, its length was raised to 350 meters and the link roads reduced to 200 meters, while the cost increased to Taka 23.78 crore. The time fixed to complete the flyover was March this year.
An additional amount of about Taka 5.50 crore was spent due to changes in design and increase in time of construction work, the sources said.
With the opening of the flyover which was named after former Awami League lawmaker late Ahsanullah Master, vehicles of Dhaka and North Bengal could go to Narsingdi, Bhairab, Sylhet and Kishoreganj via Tongi by avoiding severe traffic jam in Dhaka city and Kanchpur bridge.
There is 7.5-meter space in each lane of the two-lane flyover. The width of its footpath is six meters and the number of spans is 14.

Editorial

Facing climate change impact

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has called for establishing the Multi-Donor Trust Fund at the earliest and quick disbursement of the fund among the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) to enable them to face the impact of climate change. "Though our greenhouse gas emission is negligible, we are amongst the worst victims," she said at the 66th Ministerial Session of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) in Seoul on Monday .The Prime Minister said the 66th session of the ESCAP was requested to endorse the Dhaka Outcome Document and transmit it as the regional input to the global review to be conducted by the 4th United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries to be held in Istanbul in May 2011.
After the Copenhagen climate conference, the climate issue was raised again prominently by Sheikh Hasina at the ESCAP session. This was a very right and positive step in view of the grave danger looming large Bangladesh due to possible adverse impact of climate change. About 20 million people might be displaced from coastal belts of Bangladesh as a result of sea level rise following climate change. Bangladesh emit a very little amount of carbon in comparison to the developed nations but the country is most vulnerable to ozone layer damage. A huge number of people are exposed to the adverse effect of climate change in Bangladesh. According to the Global Climate Risk Index (CRI), 2010 published in Copenhagen natural disasters have caused the greatest loss of life in Bangladesh over the last decade than in any other country of the world.
Climate change threatens to worsen poverty and burden marginalized and vulnerable people with additional hardships. In southeast Asia, about 221 million people are living below the poverty line of US$ two a day and more than 400m people in the region are now chronically hungry. Many poor in the region living in the coastal and low-lying areas are small farmers, who earn their livelihood from the seas. If the situation deteriorates further due to climate change, that will be catastrophic. So everything necessary should be done to avert such situation.
It is against this backdrop that Bangladesh is attaching great importance to the climate change issue as the challenge from the climate change has become a global concern with the developing nations being threatened with a major disaster and even catastrophe. And so, everything must be done to avert the possible disaster and to this end quick disbursement of climate fund must be made.

  Implementing House Rent Act

In a commendable move the High Court has come forward in the rescue of the tenants who are virtually held hostage by the house lords in the capital. The High court on Monday issued a rule on the authorities concerned asking them to show cause why the directives should not be issued to implement the provisions of the House Rent Control Act 1991. A two-judge bench comprising Justice M Momtaz-uddin Ahmed and Justice Naima Haider issued the rule on a writ petition brought by Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB).
The petition referring to several news items published in different dailies stated that it is a common picture of the society, especially in the capital city where different nature of confusions and controversy is going on between the landlords and the tenants regarding house rent. "So specific directives is needed to end and avoid such unhealthy and untoward situations," counsel for the petitioners advocate Monzil Morsheed submitted before the court. He said the Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) authority is not taking proper steps to implement its schedule of house rent even they are not framing rules following the provisions of the House Rent Act. On hearing, the court issued the rule returnable in four weeks. The Cabinet secretary, the secretary to the Prime Minister office, the secretary to the Parliament secretariat, the Law secretary and the Mayor of Dhaka were made respondents in the writ petition.
It goes without saying that many things in this country are beyond any control of the authorities and the law of the land and house rent in the capital is one of them. In this circumstance, Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB) had earlier in mid April served a legal notice asking the government to enforce the House Rent Control Act 1991 in order to prevent the house owners in the capital from arbitrarily collecting excess rent and advances from their tenants. In the legal notice the human rights organisation had also asked the government to execute the standard rent for premises fixed by Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) and to frame rules as per the act.
But the legal notice failed to yield any result and the human rights organisation had to file a writ petition. How will the authorities respond to the order issued by the court remains yet to be seen, but none can deny that the house rent issue is very important for the tenants as they are being constantly subjected to the whims and tyranny of the landlords in absence of the enforcement of the house rent act. In almost all cities of the world house rent is regulated by law and the authorities, but in Dhaka house owners are lords of their houses and the laws relating to house rent. There should be an end to this atrocity. The government should enforce the House Rent Control Act 1991 to bring some respite for the tenants by controlling the house rent. It is hoped that, now, after of the issuance of the High Court order, the authorities will act positively and effectively in this regard.

Analysis

The Desire for Peace

Peace and good relations between Pakistan and India will remain a dream unless two core issues are sorted out. Kashmir has lingered for over sixty years for a resolution while the one now taking priority, is the dispute over water.

Ikram Sehgal

A very good and laudable initiative, "Aman ki Asha," has been undertaken by two of the largest media groups of Pakistan and India, the Jang Group and The Times of India. Aiming to advocate the many benefits of peace while also discussing core and non-core issues that have resulted in a state of hostilities and mistrust between the two countries for the past 60 years, both groups have agreed to honestly and forcefully articulate issues such as the Kashmir dispute, the water dispute, issues relating to terrorism and all other obstacles to peace. Aman Ki Asha will simultaneously promote the economic, educational and cultural benefits that an honorable and durable peace between the two neighbors will bring.' It will be very helpful in understanding each other's perspective on major issues and bridging the differences. For the sake of the two peoples and for peace in the region, the mistrust and suspicions of the last many decades must be erased and replaced by bonds of confidence and friendship.
This will not be easy sailing. Peace and good relations between Pakistan and India will remain a dream unless two core issues are sorted out. Kashmir has lingered for over sixty years for a resolution while the one now taking priority, is the dispute over water. The water dispute directly threatens the very survival of Pakistan because of the continuing impasse over our access to water supplies from India. The Indus Basin Water Treaty (known as IWT), a bilateral agreement signed by India and Pakistan in 1960, is meant to regulate water usage. India effectively controls water flows into Pakistan that begin in Jammu and Kashmir and has commenced a string of ambitious water projects because of which disputes over water allocation have risen, adding further impediments to a resolution of the Kashmir dispute in the foreseeable future.
Pakistan has a 77% dependency on water, the highest amongst the major South Asian countries. Partition also divided the waters of the Indus Basin Rivers, control of many of which came under Indian control. In 1948, after India started controlling flow of river water into Pakistan, the issue became internationalized and after years of negotiations, the World Bank brokered a deal between the two countries in 1960 that became known as "Indus Water Treaty". The Treaty provided exclusive rights to India over the eastern rivers Ravi, Beas and Sutlej whereas the use of western rivers Indus, Jhelum and Chenab were allowed to Pakistan. As per the Agreement, the flow of these rivers into Pakistan can neither be stopped nor hindered. A few exceptions in the treaty do allow India to use the water for domestic use and generation of hydro-electric power precluding building of any storage thereon. However India has commenced work on the Baglihar and two other controversial dams on River Chenab named Uri-1 and Uri-2. As far as River Jhelum is concerned India has started construction work on the Kishenganga Hydropower Project. The resultant squeeze on these two rivers waters downstream will have grave and catastrophic consequences on the agriculture sector of Pakistan with potential to drastically affect its economy. Moreover, should any dam malfunction or collapse, it will have grave consequences for Pakistan in the shape of massive floods in its areas. A greater perception is developing in the national print and electronic media to make our water rights, a cornerstone of our foreign policy, it being the most vital issue for the national security of Pakistan.
The IWT is an excellent mechanism, an example that agreements are possible, provided its functional aspect is held paramount and not its political aspect. It was signed at a time when water was available in abundance and when climate change was not affecting water supplies. Instead of abandoning a treaty that has managed extremely well despite three wars between the two countries; perhaps it could be revamped keeping the interests of both parties in sight. There is nothing wrong with the functional aspect of this Treaty, if the terms are implemented honestly there should be no problems that cannot be resolved amicably. Unfortunately, the functional aspect is being sacrificed at the altar of politics and at present, this issue has been politicized to such an extent that levels of mistrust have soared to new heights, especially on the Pakistani side. The treaty has been a pillar of water and other development activities in the region for the last 50 years. If these treaties lose their moral or legal force, life on the planet would turn into a nightmare. Perhaps new and innovative areas of cooperation, outside the Treaty can be envisaged. Islamabad has suggested joint watershed management and joint commissioning of environmental studies that would address emerging concerns arising from reduced flows.
Professor Gordon McKay, professor of Environmental Engineering at Harvard University has written an excellent piece entitled 'War or Peace on the Indus' in The Daily Star, Lebanon (April 26, 2010), that gives honest and unbiased views from the perspective of one who is not a party to the dispute, to quote: "Had Baglihar been the only dam being built by India on the Chenab and Jhelum, this would be a limited problem. But following Baglihar is a veritable caravan of Indian projects - Kishenganga, Sawalkot, Pakuldul, Bursar, Dal Huste, Gyspa ….. the cumulative live storage will be large, giving India an unquestioned capacity to have major impact on the timing of flows into Pakistan.
This is a very uneven playing field. The regional hegemon is the upper riparian and has all the cards in its hands. This asymmetry means that it is India that is driving the train, and that change must start in India. In my view, four things need to be done.
First, there must be some courageous and open-minded Indians - in government or out - who will stand up and explain to the public why this is not just an issue for Pakistan, but why it is an existential issue for Pakistan. Second, there must be leadership from the government of India. Third, this should translate into an invitation to Pakistan to explore ways in which the principles of the Indus Waters Treaty could be respected, while providing a win for Pakistan (assurance on their flows) and a win for India (reducing the chronic legal uncertainty which vexes every Indian project on the Chenab or Jhelum). Fourth, discussions on the Indus waters should be de-linked from both historic grievances and from the other Kashmir-related issues. Again, it is a sign of statesmanship, not weakness, to acknowledge the past and then move beyond it. And finally, as a South African I am acutely aware that Nelson Mandela, after 27 years in jail, chose not to settle scores but to look forward and construct a better future, for all the people of his country and mine. Who will be the Indian Mandela who will do this - for the benefit of Pakistanis and Indians - on the Indus?" Unquote.
The composite dialogue process between Pakistan and India was initiated by Prime Minister Vajpayee and President Pervez Musharraf in January 2004. They identified eight issues, i.e. Peace and Security including CBMs, Jammu and Kashmir, Siachen, Sir Creek, Wullar Barrage, Terrorism and Drug Trafficking to be discussed bilaterally between the two countries. The process has moved at a snail's pace and failed to solve any of the issues but it was termed as irreversible.
A rare opportunity was lost in October 2004 in not going ahead with Musharraf's pragmatic and flexible 'out of the box' solution which called for demilitarisation of the regions of Jammu & Kashmir, soft borders through travel and trade, granting of maximum autonomy to the five regions of J&K and withdrawal of Indian and Pakistani forces. When I proposed this as an "arrangement" rather than an elusive "agreement" in a lecture on national security to NDC (now NDU) in 2001 I was asked never to darken their doorsteps again. Musharraf's initiative was a very brave one, interestingly it came from a military person and broke new ground. Let's go a little further today and be more controversial in the search for peace. Why not constant and meaningful military to military contact including slots in each other's training schools and presence in military exercises as observers (and not just a hot line between the DGMOs) to tear down the walls of suspicion in the military mindset? After all on UN Peace Keeping duties in many troubled areas of the world Pakistani and Indian soldiers seem to serve well together -even coming to each other's help in times of need. A bitter and bloody civil war led to the breakup of Pakistan and creation of Bangladesh in 1971, today years later despite those memories still being raised for political purposes, our soldiers are the best of friends because of such contact at all levels.
A satisfactory solution of the Kashmir dispute from Pakistan's point of view is not within reach in the short-term because of the current huge power imbalance in favour of India. The time has come for the adoption of a long-term approach in contrast with our efforts in the past to find an immediate solution. Pakistan must work with India for improving the plight of the Kashmiris through protection of their human rights, starting the natural lateral trade and unrestricted movement across the LOC, reciprocal and substantial reduction in the military presence in the territory and mutually pulling them back out of machine gun and mortar range, if not artillery range.
On April 29, 2010 Pakistan and India agreed to the resumption of high-level dialogue which was unilaterally stopped by India since the Mumbai terror attacks. The two nuclear-armed neighbours must move forward for the sake of peace and stability in the region. Terrorism is a common threat to both nations, there is the need to adopt a common strategy to counter terrorism. Aman ki Asha provides a platform for Pakistan and India to forge understanding on all outstanding issues and work towards resolving them.
There is now a dire and immediate need to change old mindsets and give way to a new and positive thinking. Both Pakistan and India need to avoid short-sighted policies for scoring points politically or securing short-term gains which have resulted in poisoning their relations in the past and diverting their attention from the gigantic task of eradicating poverty and raising the standard of living of the vast mass of their peoples living below the poverty line. Both countries face a social time-bomb that is ticking away.
Aman ki Asha is yet another tremendous indication, if one is still needed, that the people on both sides across the broad spectrum yearn to live in peace as good neighbours. Intellectuals, academics, businessmen, students, etc, indeed the whole gamut of the common man are willing to forget and forgive the errors and mishaps of the past because they know the fruits of peace and friendship will be bountiful. Do our leaders have the courage to face this reality staring us in the face?
For the sake of our children, I will repeat what I have said once before, we must make "Aman ki Asha" successful, otherwise the water dispute if not Kashmir will make the desire for peace to be overcome by the "Jang ki Dholak", the drums of war.

Ikram Sehgal is an internationally renowned columnist and the Editor of the Pakistan Defence Journal

  Crisis of confidence

Realistically speaking, RevCon cannot achieve in a mere 25 days what it could not in the last 42 years - even with sprawling anti-proliferation forums around the NPT.
 
Zahir Kazmi

This year's US Nuclear Posture Review, the new START agreement and the recently concluded nuclear security summit were the run up to the 25-day session of the eighth RevCon - review conference of the Non-Proliferation Treaty - this month.
It is a meeting that will determine the future course of nuclear politics. The UN hosts leaders from almost 190 states once in five years to address existing and emerging nuclear challenges by strengthening global security instruments.
Ostensibly, the NPT's RevCon should not concern Pakistan as like India and Israel it is not a party to the treaty. Yet the three will closely observe the proceedings because the agenda directly affects their jealously guarded interests. The treaty provides an opportunity to the members to reach initiatives to enhance nuclear safeguards, prevent withdrawal from the treaty, accelerate disarmament and address regional nuclear proliferation challenges.
Some like myself consider the treaty a success since it has been able to keep the number of nuclear weapon states to nine whereas it had been predicted by some that the figure would be in double digits. Critics, however, consider the NPT a unique document that bans the possession of nuclear weapons by 184 states and allows the retention of the same weapons indefinitely by only five. Thus the majority has placed a big wager on its security. These non-nuclear weapon states have unwittingly assumed the main burden of the obligation.
The regime suffers from a crisis of confidence because North Korea withdrew from the treaty to conduct two nuclear tests; the West and Israel have deep concerns about Iran's alleged nuclear weapons ambitions; Syria is constructing a nuclear reactor in violation of IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) obligations; the US violated the treaty by granting civil nuclear technology to India - a state not a party to the NPT; Al Qaeda wants to acquire and use nukes; and there are chances of nuclear black markets operating around the world.
Realistically speaking, RevCon cannot achieve in a mere 25 days what it could not in the last 42 years - even with sprawling anti-proliferation forums around the NPT. Iran has successfully played a game with the P5 plus one in evading a meaningful resolution against it. Even a modest win, like reaching a consensus in creating new norms to deter states like North Korea from cheating and withdrawing from the NPT, would be a big success. RevCon works on universal consensus and even one vote against the final declaration will block the consensus reached by 187 states. Beset with such colossal challenges, RevCon can only hope to claim a big success by reaching a consensus on the final declaration - done only thrice in the past.
Besides the nuclear weapon states, which include the veto-wielding P-5, other key non-nuclear weapon states are Brazil, South Africa, Egypt, Singapore and Indonesia. They may play a key role in identifying cross-cutting issues between nuclear weapon and non-nuclear weapon states. There will be some bones of contention between the nuclear haves and have-nots.
First; the nuclear weapon states may face criticism for not fulfilling their disarmament obligations. Under Article VI the nuclear weapon states took to pursuing negotiations in good faith on measures relating to the cessation of the nuclear arms race and nuclear disarmament. They, however, interpret this and the International Court of Justice's 1996 advisory opinion as a reduction in their arsenals instead of complete disarmament. During RevCon, the US and Russia will claim that they have bilaterally agreed to reduce the size of their arsenal to 1,550 weapons. The non-nuclear weapon states may, however, point at the differences in the size of the arsenals even within P-5 states.
The second point contains the violation of peaceful uses of nuclear energy obligations towards the have-nots. The non-transfer and non-acquisition of nuclear weapons and related technology is one of the obligations enshrined in the treaty's articles. The US, however, violated its domestic laws and the treaty by signing the 2006 civil nuclear energy deal with India.
The third issue refers to the lack of progress on the 1995 Middle East resolution of creating weapons of mass destruction free-zone and enforcement of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. Finally, the issue of the interpretation of Article X of the treaty - which is a withdrawal clause - whereby a state first cheats as a member of the treaty and later uses the option of withdrawing from it without consequences.
The pessimists will view these issues through coloured spectacles and may consider the NPT under severe strain. Though the NPT is the mainstay of the anti-proliferation regime there are other forums too, with varying degrees of participation and decision-making powers, like the UN Security Council, the Geneva-based Conference on Disarmament, the Nuclear Suppliers Group, and the IAEA's board of governors. Yet RevCon is considered the most important forum due to its sheer size and the opportunity for all states to have their say in the effort to control nuclear proliferation.
Mr Obama said that the US can lead the effort but others will have to follow. What he didn't realise was that the world has come a long way from the Cold War days and will not follow blindly. That is why India, Israel and Pakistan chose not to enter the treaty and became nuclear weapon states and North Korea committed the sin of withdrawing from it. That is why Iran has a 'state policy' of not pursuing a weapons programme. The nuclear world order cannot be achieved by a gentleman's agreement. The Durants argued in Lessons from History that man is a competitive animal, the states take his character and only the fittest can survive.

Viewpoints

Limits of military action

Meanwhile, Karzai is believed to have been told by American officials to work with Pakistan on his political outreach effort.

Dr Maleeha Lodhi

After months of rocky relations and public disagreements Washington rolled out the red carpet for President Hamid Karzai during his four-day visit in an effort to repair strained ties between the uneasy allies.
Behind the carefully scripted pageantry designed to mend fences were unresolved issues about the strategy of the struggling US-led mission in Afghanistan. The military strategy is still dictating and outpacing a faltering political strategy. This policy gap and the lack of Afghan civilian capacity continue to cast a shadow over the approaching Afghan endgame.
While the military plan has been rolled out in the shape of the impending offensive in Kandahar-billed as the largest and most pivotal military campaign in the nearly nine-year war-the political approach remains uncertain and weakly articulated.
The limits of a military-focused approach were again underscored in February by the much-publicised US campaign in Marja, a small area in Helmand. Taliban forces were driven out, or melted away. But with no local administration to take over governance Marja has been slipping back under the Taliban's sway.
An assessment prepared last month by the Pentagon underscored this dire situation. This not only found that the insurgency had spread but its decentralised nature made it a more daunting challenge and harder to overcome. The report also pointed to the lack of public faith in the Afghan government. Of 121 districts regarded as crucial in the struggle against the Taliban none supported the government, 29 were sympathetic while 48 either empathised with the insurgency or backed it.
Against this backdrop, the Karzai visit was aimed at putting relations back on track and renewing unity of purpose at a decisive moment in the Afghan war. Resetting the relationship was also deemed important to shore up falling political support for the war in both countries. The American public's growing war weariness imposes a constraint on Obama that he can ignore only at his peril with crucial mid-term Congressional elections looming in November.
This is why, at his joint press conference with Karzai, President Obama reiterated the pledge-first made last December-to start drawing down US combat forces from Afghanistan in July 2011, little more than a year from now. Although he said this will not compromise America's long-term commitment to Afghanistan's security, he vowed to stick to this timetable.
A key objective President Karzai sought to accomplish by his Washington visit was to elicit President Obama's public backing for his outreach to the Taliban embodied in his reintegration and reconciliation plan, whose framework and details have yet to be evolved. A peace jirga of tribal elders and political leaders announced for May 2 was delayed till May 29 in order to secure Washington's approval.President Obama endorsed the reintegration plan, stating that an Afghan-led "political component" was necessary for the broader strategy. He also set out three "redlines" or caveats for the strategy to win over disaffected Taliban supporters: disavow Al-Qaeda, cease fighting against the government and accept the Afghan constitution, including respect for human rights.
Although these redlines have been mentioned before by American officials this was the first time they were systematically spelt out as a policy pronouncement by the president. They will become even more relevant when Washington decides to seek a negotiated end to the war.
There was little indication that the administration had arrived at this point. Privately US officials have long acknowledged the need to talk to Taliban leaders at some stage. But no internal consensus has yet emerged on the timing and modalities for serious negotiations with top-echelon Taliban leaders. For now, all that Washington was prepared to publicly support was the plan to wean away low level Taliban fighters.
While the substance of talks between Presidents Obama and Karzai on the reconciliation plan have not been revealed, the two leaders publicly agreed that the war will intensify in the coming months as the US offensive proceeds in the traditional Taliban heartland.
"There is going to be some hard fighting over the next several months," said President Obama. The success of these efforts, he added, would enable Karzai to negotiate from a position of strength with Taliban insurgents. "The incentive for the Taliban to lay down arms and make peace with the Afghan government in part depends on our effectiveness in breaking their momentum militarily," the president explained.
This seemed to reaffirm Washington's continuing preference for a fight-first-talk-later strategy. Opinion within the 46-nation US-led coalition in Afghanistan has increasingly been divided between those who argue that continuing the war will not appreciably strengthen the hand for eventual talks and those who believe intensified military pressure can alter the course of the war sufficiently to force the Taliban into negotiations.
Within the US administration too, both points of view can be found. But the one that is ascendant at present rests on the premise that the military operation in Kandahar will be able to weaken the Taliban and provide the upper hand to the coalition to pursue a political solution in an Afghan-led process. The eminently sensible idea of an Afghan-led process has yet to be squared with the reality of whether there is anyone actually leading (or in control of) Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, there is also the view apparently shared by President Karzai that it is preferable to seek dialogue under the threat of military action and not after the military option has run its course, especially as this is not really expected to be a game changer in the war. But there is no sign that Washington is willing to ask its forces to hold fire to offer the Taliban an opportunity to negotiate. As President's Obama's statements indicate, the US believes that it is still possible to break the back of the insurgency and that this will create the necessary conditions for talks.
By late summer, when the US surge is completed, there will be close to 100,000 American troops taking the total of foreign forces in Afghanistan to 150,000. Meanwhile, the campaign for Kandahar is increasingly being depicted by American officials as less of a "single-blow, full fledged assault" than a "gradual process" that could last a year. This leaves open the possibility for serious "reconciliation" efforts to proceed.
Thinking within the administration certainly continues to evolve on this count. But there seem to be more in-house discussions than decisions so far. For instance, no decision has been taken on how the three 'redlines' on "reintegration" will apply to "reconciliatory" negotiations. Are these preconditions for engagement or objectives to be secured in the course of negotiations? Will they form part of reciprocal obligations between the parties at the conclusion of talks?
In the absence of a clearly articulated framework for a political strategy of engagement, it is unlikely that President Karzai's planned outreach will yield any spectacular results. It may be that Washington wants to him to test the ground while military pressure is intensified. It is also possible that the US has quietly indicated to Karzai which Taliban groups he can or cannot talk to.
The Taliban leadership may have little incentive to negotiate unless they see the US fully and overtly behind the process. But America's kill-or-capture military strategy will likely make the Taliban more resistant to talks rather than encourage them to negotiate.
Meanwhile, Karzai is believed to have been told by American officials to work with Pakistan on his political outreach effort. He has publicly announced his willingness to do so but privately conveyed to the US that Pakistan cannot determine or run this process-something that Islamabad in any case has no wish to do.
Washington is expected to fully brief Pakistan about the Karzai visit. That gives Islamabad an opportunity to encourage the US to clarify its political strategy and steer it towards seeking a political resolution of the conflict. As President Obama has himself acknowledged many times, peace in Afghanistan cannot be assured by military means alone.

The writer is a former envoy of Pakistan
to the US and the UK, and a former
editor of The News.
 

  Sri Lanka: Need to restore trust

President Mahinda Rajapaksa can use his enormous popularity and power to work out a reasonable political package that will satisfy all communities.

R. Hariharan

It is one year since Velupillai Prabakaran, founder leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, died with his aides in the final stage of the Eelam War.
It took Prabakaran two decades to rebuild the LTTE after the mauling he received at the hands of the Indian troops from 1987 to 1990. He took it to a peak position of power and territorial domination in 2002 when he agreed to participate in the Norwegian peace process. There were two unique features to the peace process. For the first time, Sri Lanka recognised the LTTE as the sole representative of Tamils, just as Prabakaran agreed to find a solution to the Tamil issue within a federal Sri Lanka. It provided a golden opportunity to both sides to usher in permanent peace. Prabakaran could have consolidated his gains as the LTTE controlled most of the Tamil Eelam - Tamil areas of the northeast province.
But he did not. His faith in a military solution, rather than a political one, prevented him from taking the easy way out. He continued to procure modern weapons and arms even as he spoke of peace. He did everything to scuttle the peace process and took advantage of the weaknesses of Sri Lanka's polity to bring it to an end.
Perhaps Prabakaran underestimated Sri Lanka's ability to throw up a leader who could surpass him militarily, politically and diplomatically. President Mahinda Rajapaksa fulfilled this need of Sri Lanka. His goal was to first eliminate Prabakaran and the LTTE as an extra-constitutional power centre. An overconfident Prabakaran failed to see the systematic changes the President and his action team brought about in the Sri Lankan armed forces.
The peace conditions that prevailed from 2002 to 2005 also probably softened the LTTE cadres. They were war weary; many of them had been fighting for over a decade. This became evident when they could not stop the onslaught of the rejuvenated armed forces which fought with a high morale, aided by superior firepower and numbers.
The Tamils paid dearly for 26 years of the LTTE's armed struggle that came to nought on May 18 last year in the last battle fought in Vanni. On that day, Prabakaran lost his life, just as his lieutenants did. Mystery shrouds his last days. But that is not germane to the fate of those directly affected by the Eelam war, who are still alive. Many of them are still in temporary shelters. Most of them have lost their kin, lands and livelihoods. The nation as a whole is moving back to regain its strength after nearly three decades of intermittent war.
The LTTE lost nearly 25,000 cadres and supporters in the war. Over 10,000 youth suspected of LTTE affiliation are still in police custody. Its losses in military equipment and infrastructural assets run into millions of rupees.
However, the LTTE's overseas network, though in tatters, still exists. But it has no central leadership, particularly after the arrest of its overseas representative Kumaran Pathmanathan (KP) a few months after the war.
The Sri Lankan Tamil Diaspora is in a state of shock. The LTTE created vast assets overseas. Gaining access to them will be vital for its revival. As the Tamil Diaspora is dispirited and broken up into factions, it is unlikely that any single group will gain full access to the LTTE's assets.
A few LTTE acolytes supported by a sprinkling of intellectuals, still wedded to the dream of an independent Tamil Eelam, have floated the Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) abroad. They have gone round holding 'elections' in different countries. The 'election' is a contradiction of sorts as they never dared to ask Prabakaran to hold an election among the Tamil Diaspora when he was alive.
There is widespread scepticism about the whole TGTE exercise. It has no foothold in Sri Lanka. To become meaningful and relevant to the Tamils, the TGTE should have a public presence in Sri Lanka. It is extremely doubtful whether it will happen. The world is no more kind to insurgent and terrorist movements after the al-Qaeda's 9/11 terror strike in the United States. That should help the Sri Lankan government's determination to root out the resurgence of separatist militancy even overseas.
Prabakaran's history is one of achievements through killings, assassinations and violence. He alienated the international community which was sympathetic to Tamil aspirations. When he went to war the last time, the LTTE stood banned in 32 countries. Even after his exit, his nemesis is looming over the LTTE to prevent it from staging a comeback abroad. In many countries, the local LTTE leaders and fundraisers are being rounded up and prosecuted. In this inhospitable environment, the TGTE would perhaps continue to exist just as a virtual concept to keep the memories of Tamil Eelam alive.
Moreover, there is no leader with the appeal of Prabakaran. Even if one comes to the fore, the task of uniting and motivating a demoralised and disillusioned people to launch an armed struggle will not be easy.
Many Tamils who supported the LTTE despite their reservations believe that the dream of Tamil Eelam ended with Prabakaran's death. Even if the chimera of the Eelam cause is kept alive in the hearts of some, the environment of 1983 that encouraged the growth of Tamil militancy does not exist any more. The July 1983 anti-Tamil pogrom led many Tamils to spontaneously support all Tamil militant groups that came up in its wake.
But Prabakaran, with an overwhelming desire to emerge as the Thanipperum Thalaivar (the sole leader) of Tamils, systematically eliminated not only the rival militant groups and their leaders, but also charismatic Tamil political leaders such as Amirthalingam who could eloquently put across the Tamil case to the international community. Thus Prabakaran's bloody journey to the top left the Tamils without a strong political leadership or party.
Political and material support from India, particularly Tamil Nadu, was key to the growth of Tamil militancy in Sri Lanka. At least on two occasions, Prabakaran was saved from annihilation, thanks to Indian intervention. But after a vengeful Prabakaran carried out the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, popular support in Tamil Nadu for the LTTE dried up. And the Eelam Tamil cause was pushed to the backseat even in political rhetoric.
But the Tamil cup of discontent is still not empty. A large number of Sri Lankan Tamils are yet to resume normal lives. The war-ravaged Tamil areas require colossal financial outlay to bring the people on a par with the rest of Sri Lanka. Development projects taken up in these areas will take a few years to be completed.
But in the long term, development alone is not going to satisfy the Tamils. Their basic quest for equity needs to be met. Their trust and feeling of security in the government needs to be fully restored. The State of Emergency and the Prevention of Terrorism Act that came into force during the war are still in place. This does not help to increase the confidence level of Tamils.
After his sweeping success in the presidential and parliamentary elections, President Rajapaksa has emerged the most powerful leader in Sri Lanka. Politically, he is in an unassailable position. He can use his enormous popularity and power to work out a reasonable political package that will satisfy all communities. He has repeatedly promised to carry out structural changes to do justice to the minorities. The quicker it is done, the greater will be the gains.
As a seasoned politician, the President is aware of the risks of not addressing the genuine grievances of the Tamil minority. It was only when the Sri Lankan leadership failed to respond politically to the Tamil grievances, was the ground cleared for the LTTE to flourish. That lesson of history should not be forgotten.


(Colonel R. Hariharan, a retired Military Intelligence specialist on South Asia, served as the head of intelligence of the Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka between 1987 and 1990. E-mail: colhari@yahoo.com

  Where Cameron, Clegg differ

But can the pro-Israel British nationalist and the pro-Palestinian Europhile look-alikes remain glued together on foreign policy? Probably not!

Linda Heard

I wasn't sad that the Labour Party was given its marching orders. After all, it was the Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair who embroiled the country in three major wars - Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq - since his triumphant arrival in Downing Street in 1997. Plus, the way that Blair hung on to George W. Bush's coattails and co-opted the right wing media mogul Rupert Murdoch as an adviser was embarrassing.
His unelected successor Gordon Brown is basically a decent man but he was ineffective in leading the nation out of its current problems because most Britons thought him dour, boring and old-fashioned. They wanted a Blair clone in the top job; a slick-talking glamour boy with charisma. And now they've got a partnership of two, who look so alike that ordinary folk have difficulty telling them apart.
So now, for the first time since World War II, as a result of a hung Parliament, Britain has a coalition government. On the face of it, this is a marriage of extreme opposites. Just a few months ago, the idea of a Con-Lib coalition would have been laughable. And, indeed, during the pre-election campaign, Britain's new Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron referred to the Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg - now the deputy PM - as "a joke." But rather than walk away into the sunset, Cameron clipped his party's policies to suit his former parliamentary nemesis, who, in the absence of an outright win had been elevated to the status of kingmaker. In 2009, Clegg rejected any possible alliance with the Tories, saying they were very different from the members of his party.
It's likely that many Liberals would have preferred to gravitate toward Labour but the Great British Public had spoken. They didn't want another five years of Labour and, therefore, any such Lib-Lab arrangement would have been seen as a coalition of the losers. In my opinion, any party coalition is undemocratic. Voters end up with broken manifesto promises or watered-down versions. A run-off between the top two would be fairer.
On a personal level Cameron and Clegg have much in common. For one thing, they're both the same age. Cameron was born in October 1966 and Clegg just three months later. Secondly, although they have tried hard to sell themselves as men of the people, both come from well-heeled upper middle class backgrounds and have aristocratic antecedents. Cameron sends his daughter to a state school although he and wife are said to be worth millions. Until recently, he used to be seen around London on his bike. Clegg bills himself as someone who is against the entrenched British class system and is a champion of the poor.
Cameron is the son of a stockbroker and a baronet's daughter. He can trace his direct ancestry back to King William IV as well as a 16th century Jewish scholar named Elijah Levit. He is also the great-great grandson of a German-Jewish financier and banker Emile Levita, who brokered loans for the Rothschilds. Clegg's father is the chairman of a bank while his paternal grandmother was a Russian baroness who managed to flee the country following the Bolshevik revolution.
Thirdly, both men enjoyed a private education. Cameron went to the same prep school as the Queen's sons Andrew and Edward prior to attending the world's most prestigious school Eton. He completed his studies at Oxford University where he befriended the current Mayor of London the colorful and equally aristocratic Boris Johnson. Clegg attended the prestigious Westminster School in London in preparation for Cambridge. He was later to receive two master degrees from the University of Minnesota and the elite College of Europe respectively.
Fourthly, Cameron and Clegg are both devoted family men; Clegg and his Spanish wife Miriam have three children, Cameron and his wife Samantha - the daughter of a Baron - also had three children until cerebral palsy robbed them of their eldest son Ivan.
There are, however, major differences between the two men vis-à-vis the Israel-Palestine conflict and Britain's relationship with Europe. As the multilingual son of a Dutch mother, Clegg is a staunch European. Cameron wants as much distance between Britain and the EU as possible.
David Cameron is a self-styled Zionist and member of the Conservative Friends of Israel, which is a huge donor to his party. Prominent on the organization's website is a photograph of Cameron against a backdrop of Israeli flags. Prior to the ballot, he said he would never turn his back on Israel, adding, "Israel is a democracy - Hamas wants to create a theocracy. Israel strives to protect innocent life - Hamas targets innocent life."
His Foreign Secretary William Hague has been a Conservative Friend of Israel since he was 15 years old and is also a European Friend of Israel. Hague has slammed the Goldstone Report that assessed potential war crimes during Israel's Operation Cast Lead as being biased and is trying to get the law changed so that Israeli war crimes suspects can avoid private prosecutions when visiting Britain. Hague has also refused to rule out military action against Iran in connection with its nuclear program.
Cameron's appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne is also a vocal supporter of Israel and his Defense Secretary Liam Fox is not only a member of the Conservative Friends of Israel, he has been quoted as saying "Israel's enemies are our enemies…"
On the other hand, Nick Clegg has called upon Britain to quit selling arms to Israel and has urged the EU to suspend Israel's preferential trade status. Last year, he wrote a column for the Guardian titled "Lift the Gaza blockade: the Suffering is Shocking".
During this honeymoon period, Cameron and Clegg are doing their best to show there is hardly a chink of light between them with lots of back-slapping photo calls. On the domestic front they've made compromises with each side knowing where the other stands on the economy, taxation, public spending and immigration. But can the pro-Israel British nationalist and the pro-Palestinian Europhile look-alikes remain glued together on foreign policy? Probably not!

International

Obama sends top aides to Pakistan over NY plot
Dawn Online, Washington

US President Barack Obama has dispatched two of his most senior national security aides to Pakistan in the wake of the failed Times Square car bombing, a White House official said Tuesday. US national security advisor General James Jones and CIA Director Leon Panetta have left on a mission to investigate the May 1 bomb plot, which has been blamed on the Pakistani Taliban.
"In light of the failed Times Square terrorist attack and other terrorist attacks that trace to the border region, we believe that it is time to redouble our efforts with our allies in Pakistan to close this safe haven and create an environment where we and the Pakistani people can lead safe and productive lives," a White House official told AFP. "The US and Pakistan have a robust bilateral relationship based on shared interests. We are in frequent contact and this is one of many senior-level engagements that occur," the official added.
The discovery of a crude bomb inside a parked car in crowded Times Square prompted an evacuation of the popular tourist spot and a massive manhunt that culminated in the arrest of Pakistani-born US citizen Faisal Shahzad. Authorities have been interrogating Shahzad since his dramatic arrest at JFK Airport in New York, as his Dubai-bound plane was about to take off.
The arrest came just 53 hours after the attack was foiled by street vendors who spotted smoke coming out of the vehicle and reported it to police.

   Zardari used his ‘discretionary powers’ to pardon Malik
Dawn Online, Islamabad

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari on Tuesday pardoned a key cabinet minister sentenced over corruption to block his possible arrest, threatening to plunge his rule into fresh controversy.
Interior Minister Rehman Malik, one of the closest allies of Pakistan's head of state and a key member of his ruling party, was sentenced in absentia to three years in jail by an anti-corruption court in January 2004.
Malik, who was abroad at the time of the conviction, appealed against the verdict but a court in the eastern city of Lahore on Monday rejected his plea and cancelled his bail.
The president quickly intervened and within hours invoked his power to protect Malik from a possible detention.
The president used his "discretionary powers" to pardon Malik, Zardari's spokesman Farhatullah Babar said early Tuesday.
Referring to the hasty decision, Babar said the pardon was granted under article 45 of the constitution on the advice of Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, who formally took over constitutional powers from Zardari last month.
"Mr Rehman Malik has all along maintained that he has been victimised due to political reasons in his absence from the country," Babar said.
Under pressure to hold elections and end eight years of military rule, military ruler Pervez Musharraf passed a so-called National Reconciliation Ordinance in 2007, allowing political opponents to return home.
"Zardari's move to protect Malik will raise new controversy," retired supreme court judge Tariq Mahmood told AFP.
"The president enjoys the authority to grant clemency but the question is can he pardon a crime and whether Malik can retain his seat in parliament."

  Pranab Mukherjee says sky is the limit for India-Pakistan business

ANI, New Delhi

Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday said that sky is the limit for India-Pakistan trade to flourish.Speaking at the at the Indo-Pak business meet here, Mukherjee said: "Indian exports to Pakistan declined by 26.88 percent over previous years to1439.88 million dollars and Indian imports from Pakistan increased by 28.54 percent over the previous year to 362.07 million dollars. "The figures are just to indicate that what immense potentialities exist between two countries and perhaps, sky is the limit where we can expand our economic activities including trade and commerce," he added.
He suggested a range of areas where such cooperation could lead to better economic cooperation.
"The most important factors to improve the economic cooperation are improvement in communication, liberalisation of the trade regime, creation of transit facilities, unfiltered and free movement of goods, transit trade to Afghanistan and Central Asia, replacement of existing positive list by negative list of goods beyond which it would permit imports from India and improvement in infrastructure for trade and transport," he said.
Mukherjee also said the two countries have not signed any formal trade agreement but India has declared Pakistan the most favoured nation.

  India offers talks if Maoist rebels stop attacks
AP, New Delhi

India is willing to begin peace talks with Maoist rebels, but only if the insurgents halt all attacks for 72 hours, the home minister said Tuesday.
The offer followed a rebel ambush Monday of a bus in central India that killed 31 police officers and civilians and highlighted the Maoists' strength despite a government offensive aimed at ending one of Asia's longest rebellions.
The rebels, who have tapped into the rural poor's growing anger at being left out of the country's economic gains, are now present in 20 of the country's 28 states and have an estimated 10,000 to 20,000 fighters, according to the Home Ministry.
Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram said in a television interview Tuesday that the government welcomes peace talks, as long as the insurgents halt attacks.
"I make the offer now: The Maoists should say, 'We abjure violence, we suspend violence,' and actually suspend violence, from any date they fix for 72 hours," he told the CNN-IBN news channel. The government would then convene talks with the insurgents, he said. The CNN-IBN television news channel quoted Ramanna, a Maoist leader in Chhattisgarh state, as saying over the phone that the government should first withdraw thousands of paramilitary soldiers deployed to fight the rebels and create peaceful conditions for talks. Ramanna uses one name.

  Obama, South Korea's Lee consult on Cheonan probe
Reuters, Washington

The investigation into the sinking of a South Korean warship in March was among issues U.S. President Barack Obama and South Korea President Lee Myung-bak discussed in a telephone call on Monday, the White House said in a statement.
"President Lee provided an update on the status of the investigation into the sinking of the ROK naval vessel Cheonan in which 46 Korean sailors lost their lives," the statement said.
"The two leaders emphasized the importance of obtaining a full accounting of the event and committed to follow the facts of the investigation wherever they lead," the statement said.
South Korean officials have not officially accused North Korea but have made little secret of their belief that Pyongyang deliberately torpedoed the corvette Cheonan near their disputed border in retaliation for a naval firefight last year.
North Korea has denied any involvement and has accused Lee's government of trying to use the incident for political gains ahead of local elections in June.
Obama and Lee also pledged "their utmost efforts to ensure the security of the Republic of Korea," the White House statement said.
In a speech last week, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg said the outcome of the investigation would influence how the United States deals with North Korea.

  Pakistan's President Zardari faces legal challenge
Reuters, Islamabad

A Pakistani court asked President Asif Ali Zardari on Monday to explain how he can be co-chairman of the country's ruling party and head of state at the same time, a lawyer said.
The legal challenge to Zardari over his two posts does not pose an immediate threat to the unpopular president but it is a reminder of the legal difficulties he faces, legal analysts said. The Pakistan Lawyers Forum (PLF) filed a petition, or a challenge, questioning the right of the president to hold the two offices and in response, the High Court in the city of Lahore ordered Zardari's principal secretary to explain. "Since the president could not appear because of security reasons, the court asked his principal secretary to appear in court on May 25," PLF president A.K. Dogar told reporters outside the court.
There is no constitutional bar on the president holding office in a political party but Dogar said the Supreme Court had in the past barred a president from holding a party post.
"Our Supreme Court judges decided in 1993 that the president should be non-partisan. He should not involve himself in political battles. He should shun politics but here he is a party head, which is illegal," he said.
Zardari, the widower of assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, is co-chairman of her Pakistan People's Party (PPP), which emerged the biggest party after a February 2008 general election and heads a ruling coalition. Their son, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, who is a student in Britain, is the other party co-chairman.
The president, dogged by corruption accusations stemming from the 1990s, when Benazir Bhutto served two terms as prime minister, has struggled to win the popularity his wife enjoyed.
His political enemies question his legitimacy to rule and some want to see old corruption cases against him revived, even though he enjoys presidential immunity.
The Supreme Court, which in December threw out a controversial law that had protected Zardari and others, including Malik, has called for old corruption cases against him to be revived. The court has taken up a case against the government for not seeking the revival of money-laundering cases against Zardari in Swiss courts. Zardari spent 11 years in jail on various charges but was never convicted.

 Chinese PM Wen to visit Japan
AFP, Tokyo

China's Prime Minister Wen Jiabao will visit Japan for three days from May 30 for the highest-level official visit from Beijing since 2008, Japan's foreign ministry said on Tuesday.
Wen will arrive the day after a summit with Japan, China and South Korea on the South Korean island of Jeju. He is to meet his counterpart Yukio Hatoyama in Tokyo on May 31, and Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko on June 1.
President Hu Jintao last went to Tokyo in May 2008, and Wen joined a three-way summit with South Korea in Fukuoka in December that year. Hatoyama visited Beijing in October and plans to visit the Shanghai World Expo in June.
Kyodo News agency has reported that Wen will also visit Mongolia and Myanmar on what would be a four-nation tour until June 3.
China's foreign ministry refused to comment on Wen's travel plans.
Relations between Asian giants Japan and China, the world's number two and three economies respectively, have warmed but are still often strained by their wartime history and ongoing disputes over territory and resources.
Hatoyama, a centre-left leader who took power last September, has promoted closer bonds between Japan and its East Asian neighbours as well as the long-term goal of forming a European Union-style Asian community of nations.

 Thai govt says no peace talks unless protests end
AFP, Bangkok

The Thai government rejected a proposal Tuesday for peace talks with leaders of the Red Shirt protesters to end the deadly mayhem gripping Bangkok, saying negotiations cannot start until the demonstrators disperse.
The decision set back hopes of stemming the crisis after six days of violence that has left 39 people dead and destabilized a country once regarded as one of Southeast Asia's strongest democracies. Thousands of anti-government Red Shirts, many rural poor, remain camped behind barricades to press their demand for quick national elections. Their sympathizers battled soldiers in nearby streets.
Cabinet minister Satit Vongnongteay quoted the prime minister as saying he welcomed negotiations to halt the violence but that "talks will happen only after the protest has ended."
Tuesday's televised comments came in response to an offer made earlier in the day by Red Shirt protest leaders, who said they would unconditionally accept an offer by the country's Senate to mediate between the two sides.

 Palestinians, Germany start state-building partnership
AFP, Berlin

The Palestinian Authority launched its first high-level partnership for state-building with Germany Tuesday and said it hoped to start similar alliances with other governments.
Premier Salam Fayyad said the German-Palestinian Steering Committee bringing together ministers from the two sides was aimed at readying the Palestinians for statehood which he said would advance the peace process.
"This is a first in our political and diplomatic cooperation," Fayyad told reporters at a joint press conference with his host, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle.
"We hope it will set a precedent on the European Union level, and on the international level."
Fayyad's talks with Westerwelle ran parallel to meetings between the German and Palestinian interior, economy, development and education ministers focused on the development of state institutions in the territories.
Both sides said they aimed to hold similar meetings once a year.
Westerwelle said the programme was also in the interest of Israel, which sees Germany as its closest ally in Europe, in preparing the Palestinians to be partners for peace with a viable, stable state.
"We believe that development and expansion of state institutions in the Palestinian Territories are indispensable for the success of a comprehensive and just two-state solution in the Middle East," he said.
Westerwelle said Germany intended to intensify cooperation by continuing to train Palestinian security forces in the West Bank, lifting an upper limit on Hermes state loan guarantees, opening a West Bank bureau to support German investors and providing assistance to Palestinian scientists.

   Iran hopeful world powers will accept nuclear deal
AP, Tehran

Iran said Tuesday it expects the U.S. and its allies to accept a nuclear fuel swap deal despite initial skepticism, as key U.N. Security Council member China welcomed the proposal as a way of reviving negotiations over Tehran's nuclear activities.
The U.S. and some of the other world powers involved in the standoff said a deal reached with outside mediation by Turkey and Brazil on Monday failed to ease their concerns that Iran is ultimately intending to develop a nuclear weapons capability.
"If the Western countries continue seeking excuses, it will be clear that they are not after a solution to the issue and have no logical option on the table," said Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Ramin Mehmanparast.
He told a weekly press briefing that he was optimistic the deal would go forward after those nations had time for more careful consideration. Iran is offering to trade much of its enriched uranium for fuel rods needed for a medical research reactor in Tehran. It is similar to a U.N.-drafted deal proposed in October that would have deprived Iran - at least temporarily - of the material it would need to produce a nuclear warhead.
Giving Iran more highly enriched uranium in the form of fuel rods would not allow it to use that material for a weapon. Iran denies its program has a military dimension, but the U.N.'s nuclear monitoring agency says Tehran has not fully cooperated with an investigation meant to ensure its nuclear activity is only for peaceful purposes.

  Russia woos Ukraine on security bloc
Reuters, Kiev

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev told Ukraine on Tuesday that the doors to a Russia-led security bloc were always open and pledged that the Russian navy based in a Ukrainian port would never attack its neighbours.
The Kremlin leader sought to draw Russia's ex-Soviet neighbour closer to Moscow's vision of European security on the last day of a visit in which the two sides have agreed to renew long-term cooperation after five years of cold relations.
Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich, who has tilted policy towards Moscow since succeeding the pro-Western Viktor Yushchenko, has aroused the wrath of his political opponents by agreeing to extend the Russian navy's stay in Ukraine's Crimea until 2042 in return for cheaper gas.
In a bid to shore up Yanukovich at home, Medvedev defended the fleet's presence in the Black Sea port of Sevastopol as a guarantee of stability in the region and he pledged it would never be deployed against Russia's neighbours.
"Will Russia use its Black Sea fleet to attack neighbouring states? No, it will not," he told a gathering of university students in Kiev.
He made no mention of the deployment of the fleet's flagship, the rocket cruiser Moskva, to blockade the Georgian port of Poti in 2008 during Russia's brief summer war with Georgia.
Yanukovich has endeared himself to Moscow by pushing possible membership of NATO-pursued by his predecessor-off the agenda, but during Medvedev's two-day visit, he stressed Ukraine's neutral status as a "non-bloc state".

  EU nations override UK on hedge fund rules
AP, Brussels

European Union governments overrode British objections - and U.S. worries - by agreeing Tuesday to tighten rules for hedge funds, a move some fear will block American funds from the region and cause the lucrative industry to flee London's financial district.
The decision reflects Europe's new-found resolve to tighten oversight of financial markets and crack down on speculators with a heavier hand, though the final law may be softened as a concession to Britain's new government and its prime minister, David Cameron.
Hedge funds are lightly regulated investment vehicles that cater to rich and institutional investors. They promise high investment returns and tend to use complex trading strategies that can involve large amounts of leverage, or borrowed money.
The new EU rules would regulate managers of hedge funds, private equity, real estate and commodity funds for the first time, requiring them to register with regulators and hand over information on their trades.
They will also have to set aside capital to counter risks - as banks do.
Crucially, the proposed rules don't give funds the automatic right to sell across the 27-nation bloc. U.S. Treasury chief Tim Geithner has complained that this was a "protectionist" move that could shut American funds out of the EU.
To finalize the law by July, governments must now seek a compromise between their version and one voted by the European Parliament. The result is likely to give more rights to foreign funds to do business across Europe.
EU governments said in a statement that they wanted better supervision to match a pledge made in the wake of the financial crisis "to regulate all players in the market that might pose a risk to financial stability."

  US says China backs Iran sanctions despite swap deal
AFP, Tehran

The United States said on Tuesday that China backed a "strong draft" UN sanctions resolution against Iran, even as Beijing offered its support for a deal Tehran signed to swap its nuclear fuel abroad.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the draft would be circulated on Tuesday to the UN Security Council, which includes Brazil and Turkey, who brokered Iran's deal to ship much of its low enriched uranium (LEU) to Turkey.
In a surprise announcement before a Senate committee, Clinton said the three-veto wielding permanent Security Council members had reached the agreement, after China had shown particular reluctance.
Washington had been working with the two powers "on the draft of a new sanctions resolution on Iran, and today I am pleased to announce...we have reached agreement on a strong draft with the cooperation of both Russia and China," she said.
"This announcement is as convincing an answer to the efforts undertaken in Tehran over the last few days as any we could provide," Clinton told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
China had earlier come out in support of the accord Iran signed with Turkey and Brazil to swap much of its LEU on Turkish soil. "We attach importance to and support this agreement," said foreign ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu, whose country is one of the veto-wielding members of the Security Council.
"We hope this will help promote the peaceful settlement of the Iranian nuclear issue."
Monday's accord signed by the foreign ministers of Iran, Turkey and Brazil commits Iran to deposit 1,200 kilograms (2,640 pounds) of LEU in Turkey in return for fuel for a Tehran research reactor.

  Ex-Obama pastor: ‘Obama threw me under the bus’
AP, New York

The Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Barack Obama's controversial former pastor, said in a letter obtained by The Associated Press that he is "toxic" to the Obama administration and that the president "threw me under the bus."
In his strongest language to date about the administration's 2-year-old rift with the Chicago pastor, Wright told a group raising money for African relief that his pleas to release frozen funds for use in earthquake-ravaged Haiti would likely be ignored.
"No one in the Obama administration will respond to me, listen to me, talk to me or read anything that I write to them. I am 'toxic' in terms of the Obama administration," Wright wrote the president of Africa 6000 International earlier this year.
"I am 'radioactive,' Sir. When Obama threw me under the bus, he threw me under the bus literally!" he wrote. "Any advice that I offer is going to be taken as something to be avoided. Please understand that!"
The White House didn't respond to requests for comment Monday about Wright's remarks. Several phone messages left by the AP for Wright at the Trinity United Church of Christ, where he is listed as a pastor emeritus, were not returned. Wright's spokeswoman, his daughter Jeri Wright, did not immediately comment on the substance of the letter.
Then-Sen. Obama cut ties with Wright when his more incendiary remarks became an Internet sensation in the spring of 2008.
At a National Press Club appearance in April 2008, he claimed the U.S. government could plant AIDS in the black community, praised Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan and suggested Obama was putting his pastor at arm's length for political purposes while privately agreeing with him.

  Pope-bishop relationship key in sex abuse defense
AP, Vatican City

The pope appoints bishops, issues rules bishops are supposed to follow and accepts their resignations. Bishops take a vow of obedience to the pontiff and can't switch jobs without his approval.
But is the pope their boss? Are bishops Vatican employees or officials?
Those questions are very much at the heart of lawsuits in the United States seeking to hold the Holy See liable for the failure of bishops to stop priests from raping and molesting children. The Vatican filed a motion to dismiss one such suit in Kentucky on Monday, arguing in part that bishops aren't Vatican employees and that Rome therefore can't be held liable for their actions.
The motion also charges that the statute of limitations had expired on the plaintiffs' claims and that the lawsuit should be thrown out as a result. It notes that there was no law in Kentucky requiring bishops to report pedophile priests to police at the time the abuse occurred.
The case is significant because it represents the farthest any case has gotten in a U.S. court trying to place blame for the clerical abuse scandal on Rome, not just the priests who abused children and the bishops who failed to turn them into police.
The lawyer for the victims in Kentucky, William McMurry, says he doesn't have to prove bishops are employees of the Vatican to hold them liable but merely demonstrate they are Vatican "officials."
"Anybody walking around knows that a bishop is an official of the Holy See," McMurry said.
McMurry filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Louisville, Kentucky, in 2004 on behalf of three men who said they were abused by priests as children.

Business/Economy

Current IMF lending terms ‘very soft’: Resident representative

UNB, Dhaka

In the biggest revamp of its support for low-income countries (LICs) in the last two decades, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has activated a new package of lending facilities to the world's poorest nations. "The lending terms are very soft right now," recently joined resident representative of International Monetary Fund (IMF) Eteri Kvintradze said on Tuesday in an informal interaction with journalists at the conference hall of the Bangladesh Bank.
Before the informal talks she made a presentation on the activities of IMF and policy changes. The IMF has already more than doubled its financial assistance to low-income countries and the new measures represent a significant additional effort in the coming years. The current package includes mobilization of additional resources and interest relief with zero payment on outstanding IMF concessional loans to help low-income countries cope with the global crisis.
Meanwhile, the IMF Standby Credit Facility (SCF) provides financial assistance to low-income countries with short-term balance of payments needs.
The SCF was created under the newly established Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT) as part of a broader reform to make the financial support more flexible and better tailored to the diverse needs of LICs, including in times of crisis.
Talking about the Extended Credit Facility (ECF), Eteri said financing under the ECF carries a zero interest rate, with a grace period of 5 years and 6 months and financial maturity of 10 years. "The fund reviews the level of interest rates for all concessional facilities under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT) every two years," she said. Currently the IMF has 180 member countries.

 Asia should guard against volatile capital inflows: ADB
AFP, Seoul

Emerging Asian economies should stay on guard and ready to act if volatile capital inflows threaten to destablise the region's financial markets, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) warned Tuesday.
Emerging Asia's capital markets have posted rapid gains as economic recovery in the region has gathered pace, drawing massive investment from overseas, the bank said in a report released in Seoul Tuesday.
Foreign investors have rushed back into emerging Asian markets, attracted by the region's swift recovery from the global crisis, a return of risk appetite and very low returns on assets in developed economies, it said.
"While the return of capital flows is welcome, surges in short-term capital inflows could potentially leave countries vulnerable to a sudden reversal in portfolio investment and to sharp currency movements," Srinivasa Madhur, Senior Director of the ADB's Office of Regional Economic Integration, said in the report. Recent surges of capital have been driven by equity flows as investors take advantage of widening earnings potential between emerging Asian and mature markets, the report said. The ADB said managing the hefty inflows was "the key challenge."
Emerging Asian equities yielded a 73 percent return in US dollar terms in 2009 while local currency bond issuance of 3.69 trillion dollars was 41.4 percent higher than in 2008, the report said.
"The hefty investment from overseas has put significant upward pressure on the region's currencies," it said. Madhur said managing capital flows required a wide array of policy measures, including sound macroeconomic management, a flexible exchange rate regime, a resilient financial system and "sometimes the use of temporary and targeted capital controls." Speaking at the press conference co-organised by the ADB and the Korea Capital Market Institute, Seoul's Vice Finance Minister Yim Jong-yong said emerging nations need to take "proactive steps" to stave off short-term risks. "I think (emerging economies) need to take appropriate and preemptive measures, if necessary, to prevent volatile capital inflows and outflows from posing a systemic risk," he was quoted as saying by Yonhap news agency. "From the global financial crisis two years ago, South Korea has learned the importance of strengthening the country's system to deal with rapid capital inflows and outflows," he said.

  India seeks greater reform of global lending bodies
PTI, Tehran

India on Monday sought comprehensive reform of international financial institutions to enable enhanced capital flows and infrastructure investment in developing markets, which it said will strengthen recovery from the worst global economic crisis since 1945.
"We need to continue our efforts for a comprehensive reform of the international financial institutions to make them more inclusive," India's External Affairs Minister S M Krishna said addressing the 14th G-15 Summit here.
The G-15, a group of 17 developing countries from Asia, Africa, and Latin America, was set up to foster cooperation and provide input for other international groups.
India's call for comprehensive financial reforms comes within a month of the World Bank member-nations approving greater say to developing nations in how the multilateral lending agency is run.
India's voting rights in the Bank increased to 2.91 per cent from 2.77 per cent, while that of China went up to 4.42 per cent from 2.91 per cent.
Krishna said while it may appear that the immediate global economic and financial crisis is behind us, it was early to say if the world was on a long term recovery path.
"Sustainable recovery of the global economy will depend on several factors, including how the developed economies fare, enhanced investment for infrastructure development, stable capital flows to the developing markets, appropriate macro- economic adjustments and avoiding complacency in the area of financial sector reforms," he said.
India is now the seventh largest member of the World Bank in terms of voting power, after the US, Japan, China, Germany, France and the United Kingdom, and to that extent enjoys powers to decide how the banks funds are disbursed. The extra voting rights will also enable India to seek additional assistance from the Bank.
India, already the single largest borrower from the bank, has borrowed an average USD 2.3 billion from the World Bank over the last four financial years of the lending institution. The country has separately said it requires USD one trillion to prop up its crumbling infrastructure.

  WTO to rule on China-EU shoe dispute
AFP, Geneva

The World Trade Organization said Tuesday it would rule on a case brought by China against the European Union over penalty taxes imposed by Brussels on Chinese shoe imports.
"A panel was established," a WTO spokesman said.
China told the trade body's dispute settlement mechanism that punitive taxes imposed by the EU had "a very serious impairment on the interests of Chinese industries.
"To give but one example, it has negatively affected the jobs and livelihood of around 150,000 workers employed in the production of leather footwear," said a Chinese diplomat, who asked the WTO to form a panel to rule on the complaint.
The EU decided in December 2009 to extend punitive taxes on imports of Chinese and Vietnamese leather shoes-first introduced more than three years ago as an anti-dumping measure-by a further 15 months.
Dumping occurs when a product is sold in a foreign market at less than its domestic cost price.

  Nepal's agro production increase this year
Xinhua, Kathmandu

Though production of cereal crops dropped by 4.33 percent in Nepal, production of other cash crops and others crops has increased this year, thanks to increasing commercializ-ation in agriculture sector, a government report said.
Production cash crops, vegetables, fruits, spices and livestock increased this year as compared to the figures recorded last year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Co- operatives (MoAC).
Production of jute, sugarcane, oil seed, coffee, cotton, mushroom, garlic, turmeric, honey and vegetables increased remarkably. "Increasing commercializ-ation in the agriculture sector is the major reason behind the impressive rise in production of different crops this year," Hari Dahal, spokesperson of MoAC was quoted by Tuesday's myrepublica.com as saying.
According to a new MoAC report, production of sugarcane has increased by 10 percent to some 2.59 million tons from 2.35 million tons previous recorded last year. Similarly, oil seed production also rose by 10.43 percent to 149,625 tons, while production of coffee jumped by 15 percent to 384 tons.

  Greece confirms receipt of 14.5b-euro EU loan instalment
AFP, Athens

Greece on Tuesday confirmed receipt of a loan tranche of 14.5 billion euros (18 billion dollars) from the European Union under a giant rescue package to enable it to meet an imminent debt deadline.
"The sum of 14.5 billion euros has been released by the European Commission, via the European Central Bank, to a Greek State account at the Bank of Greece," the finance ministry said in a statement.
"These funds cover Greece's immediate and short-term loan requirements and obligations," the ministry said, adding that 10 eurozone members had contributed with bilateral loans.
The list was headed by German state bank KfW which provided some 4.4 billion euros while France gave more than 3.3 billion euros, with other contributions from Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Luxembourg, Cyprus and Malta.
The full lineup of eurozone countries includes Belgium, Finland, Ireland, Slovenia and Slovakia.
Greece needed the money, which is part of a 110-billion-euro bailout loan recently agreed with the EU and the International Monetary Fund, to repay a 10-year government bond worth nine billion euros that matures on Wednesday.

  Eurozone trade surplus increases: EU
AFP, Brussels

The 16-nation eurozone's trade surplus with the rest of the world soared to 4.5 billion euros (5.5 billion dollars) in March, boosted by the weakness of the euro, official figures showed on Tuesday.
The new figure, an initial estimate, almost doubled the 2.4 billion euro trade surplus which the countries sharing the euro totted up in February when the eurozone dragged itself out of deficit. An ample illustration of how the shrinking euro is helping exports was seen in the trading comparison with the 27-nation EU as a whole-including non-euro nations such as Britain and Poland.
The total EU trade balance for March showed a deficit of 7.1 billion euros, a further dip from the 6.5 billion euro gap registered in February.

  India’s rice output may touch 99m tons
PTI, New Delhi

Ahead of the planting of kharif rice crop from next month, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has pegged India's rice output up by 13 per cent at 99 million tonnes in 2010-11, on higher prices and a normal monsoon. Last year, the country's rice production had slumped to a five-year-low, at 87.5 million tonnes, because of a poor monsoon, it said in its latest report.
About 85 per cent of the country's total rice output is grown during the kharif season (between June and September), while the rest of the 15 per cent is cultivated during the rabi season (between November and February).
"The major factors shaping the 2010-11 crop outlook are both market and weather-related. Rice production is projected to increase to 99 million tonnes (milled), up 13 per cent from 2009- 10," the USDA said.

  Europe must use debt crisis to ‘restructure’
AFP, Paris

Europe must seize on the current crisis to "restructure" its institutions and perfect the euro shared currency, IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn said a television interview on Monday.
"There is a single currency but not an economic environment that makes it viable in a period of crisis, that's what we are seeing," he said in an interview with Euronews.
"I expect Europe to take advantage of the crisis to restructure and renovate the European institutions," he added.
"The euro on Tuesday is not finished," Strauss-Kahn said, urging European leaders to "finish what has been started with the construction and launch of the euro."
The euro fell earlier to a four year low against the dollar as eurozone leaders battle a crisis of confidence in the bloc triggered by growing concerns that Greece's debt drama will spread to other eurozone countries.

National

Tk 100cr stimulus for flu-affected poultry farmers planned
BSS, Dhaka

The government is planning disbursement of Tk 100 crore as stimulus for rehabilitating the poultry farmers who were affected by bird flu during the time of the BNP and the caretaker governments.
Presiding over a meeting to observe 'National Fisheries Week- 2010' at his Secretariat office, Fisheries and Animal Resources Minister Abdul Latif Biswas said the amount has been sought from the Ministry of Finance in a bid to rehabilitate the flu-hit poultry farmers economically. Fisheries and Animal Resources Secretary Sharful Alam, high officers of concerned ministries, representatives of fisheries associations, among others, were present.
He recalled a good number of small and medium poultry farmers and traders were affected severely as they had to stop their poultry activities after the avian influenza got spread throughout the country.
Terming the industry as lone sector to make farmers self- Employed, he said efforts would be made to regain its past glory by providing them with necessary supports and ensuring all-out facilitation. He said the existing interest rate for the poultry farmers is still high and recommended bringing down the interest rates for the poultry farmers to 8 percent. "I seek Bangladesh Bank intervention in this regard," said the minister adding that the central Bank should provide poultry farmers with special loans with easy terms and conditions.
The meeting decided that National Fisheries Week-2010 would be observed across the county in a befitting manner.
The week will begin on July 21 with a rally that will parade different city streets. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is expected to inaugurate the week as the chief guest at Osmani Memorial Auditorium in the city. Agriculture Minister Begum Matia Chowdhury will be present as the special guest.
The week's programmes will include fry fish releasing, publication of special supplementary in national dailies, debates at educational institutions, discussions on diverse issues related to fisheries and school art competitions.
Latif Biswas said this year's National Fisheries Week will be observed in a different manner unlike previous years and asked all concerned to work together to make the programmes a success.

  Call for greater allocation in budget for women empowerment to achieve MDGs

UNB, Dhaka

Women leaders on Tuesday urged the government to provide a greater allocation in the upcoming budget to enhance the lifestyles of the marginal women and their empowerment to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
They made the call at a news conference at the national press club in the capital on Tuesday morning.
Bangladesh Nari Progati Sangga (BNPS) and Institute for Environment and Development (IED) jointly organized the news conference. BNPS deputy director Shahnaz Sumi read out a written statement at the news conference.
Shahnaz Sumi said half of the country's people are women and women have been playing a significant role in the country's development as a half-partner.
"The government should provide at least seven percent of development allocation in 2010-2011 fiscal for women for proper implementation of the national women development policy and national work policy," she said.
Describing to the current women's position in acquiring capital, she said that the women entrepreneurs of the country are not able to implement their initiatives due to capital limitation.
Shahnaz also stressed the need for taking steps to disseminate loans among the women entrepreneurs with simple conditions for sustainable development of the women.
A set of recommendations was put forward at the news conference. The recommendations include providing allocation in budget to reduce maternal mortality for achieving the MDGs, reducing gender discrimination and taking some affirmative action in trade and tariff system for the women entrepreneurs.
BNPS executive director Rokeya Kabir, researcher Dr Pratima Pal Majumder, BRAC's gender justice and delivery programme director Shipa Hafiz and IED executive director Noman Ahmed Khan, among others, were present at the news conference.

  EC launches Lorenzo Natali Prize for development journalism

BSS, Dhaka

The European Commission (EC) has launched Lorenzo Natali Prize for development journalism for this year.
The international prize is awarded in partnership with the Reporters without Borders and the World Association of Newspapers to the best journalism on development, democracy and human rights.
"Through the Lorenzo Natali Prize, the European Commission recognizes journalists who contribute to the cause of development, democracy and human rights," said the EC for development, Andris Piebalgs, said an EC press release.
Piebalgs said, "Many work in what are often difficult conditions, but the light they shed on the realities on the ground is key to raising public awareness of the importance of development policy. That is why we wish to help them to continue providing information in the cause of combating poverty."
The Natali prize is an international prize awarded each year since 1992 to the best journalistic work on development, democracy and human rights. It is open to journalists working in TV, radio, the press and online. In 2009, more than 1,000 journalists from 130 countries took part. Interested journalists can apply for the award by logging in http://www. nataliprize2010.eu.
The winners will be announced at an award ceremony in Brussels in December. Prizes worth a total of 60,000 pounds will be awarded to 17 journalists in the sections.

  Bringing all children under EPI programme stressed
BSS, Gaibandha

The speakers at a function here on Monday stressed the need for bringing all the children aged below one year under EPI programme to reduce their mortality and morbidity from vaccine preventable diseases.
"As the people of char areas are neglected and backward and also deprived of various existing facilities of the state, this programme will help get healthcare services for their children and achieve hundred percent EPI coverage of the district as well," they said. They said this to an inauguration ceremony and planning workshop on EPI support programme in the char areas in the auditorium of Zilla Parishad of the town here on May 17. Department of Health and Friendship, a leading non government organization of the country which has been working in char areas of different districts including Gaibandha since 1998 in the sectors of health, education, relief, reconstruction, sustainable economic development and cultural preservation jointly organized it with the financial support of Crucell, a global and fully integrated biopharma company.
Deputy Director (DD) of EPI and Surveillance and Programme Manager, CH and LCC, DGHS Dr. Abdul Jalil Mondal attended the function and addressed it as the chief guest and DD of Family Planning Dr. Ferdous Hossain Manju was present as the special guest. Presided over by civil surgeon Dr. Rafiqul Islam, the function was also addressed, among others, by director operation of Friendship Ihsanul Haque, Sadar upazila health and family planning officer Dr. Prodip Kumar Karmaker, Fulchhari upazila health and family planning officer Dr. Akteruzzaman, Sundarganj upazila health and family planning officer Dr. Shah M. Wazed and Sadar upazila family planning officer M. Jamal Hossain while assistant coordinator of the organization M. Rafiquzzaman Pallab moderated it.

  Police arrests 57, seizes contraband goods
BSS, Rangpur

Police, in separate drives, arrested 57 persons including criminals and seized contraband goods from different places in the district in overnight drives, police said.
The arrested persons included listed terrorists, muggers, warrantees and accused persons in different cases, smugglers, drug traffickers and peddlers, gamblers, thieves, extortionists and other anti-social elements.
The police seized 60 bottles phensidyl, 500 gram ganja, two abandoned motorcycles of the drug traffickers and arrested Tazul Islam, 30, Nawshad, 23, Fatema Begum, 45, in these connections from different places. Kotwali police picked up 16 persons, Gangachara one, Taraganj four, Badarganj four, Mithapukur 21, Pirganj three, Pirgachha four, Kawnia three and DB police netted one person during the raids.
The arrested persons were sent to jail hajat after producing before different Rangpur courts Tuesday, police said.

  Agriculture fair ends in Gaibandha
BSS, Gaibandha

A five-day District Agriculture Fair organized by Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) under its Greater Rangpur Agriculture and Rural Development Project ended on the premises of Independence Square of the district here on Sunday. A concluding ceremony was also held in the afternoon with deputy director of DAE M. Qurban Ali in the chair while additional director of DAE, Rangpur region freedom fighter M Mohsin Ali attended thee function and addressed it as the chief guest.
The function was also addressed, among others, by Sadar Upazila Agriculture Officer M. Mozaffar Rahman, district technical officer of Practical Action Bangladesh M Kamal Hossain, district correspondent of the BSS M. Shahiduzzaman, additional agriculture officer of the upazila Sasty Chandra Roy, sub assistant agriculture officer M. Mottaleb and farmer Abdur Rouf.
The speakers in their speeches urged all particularly the farmers to apply the latest agro-technology and knowledge acquired from the fair and to share it with their fellows to boost production of agri crops including paddy to achieve the country's food security by 2012.
AD of the DAE M. Mohsin Ali in his speeches called upon the officials of his department to be more serious and perform their duties with sincerity and honesty aimed at disseminating the latest agro technologies to the farmers to help and encourage them grow more crops.

  Three sensational murder cases in monitoring cell list
UNB, Dhaka

Three sensational cases have been enlisted in the monitoring cell of the Home Ministry.
The decision was taken on Tuesday at the 67th meeting of the monitoring cell held at the Home Ministry with Home Minister Advocate Sahara Khatun in the chair.
The cases are-SI Gautom Roy killing of Bangshal police station, Bangladesh Chchatra League (JL) activist Faruq Hossain killing at Rajshahi University and BCL member Ramijuddin murder in Mohammadpur.
SI Gautom was gunned down in the early hours of April 20 at Dhulaikhal in the city, Faruq was killed during a clash between BCL and Islami Chhatra Shibir at the Rajshahi University campus on February 8 night and Ramij was killed on April 13 in the city's Adabar area.
Briefing reporters after the meeting the Home minister said sensational cases have been enlisted in the monitoring cell without any political influence, and that there is no motive to harass anybody.
Advocate Sahara revealed that so far 381 cases have been enlisted in the monitoring cell of which 345 have already been disposed, while five more cases are now waiting for disposal.
The meeting also reviewed the investigation process of Advocate Giasuddin murder of Kaukhali in Pirojpur, deaths of Ganatantri party president Nurul Islam and his son, Iqbal murder of Khulna, Tk 1.33 crore stolen case of Agrani Bank of Daudkandi branch and murder of Public Prosecutor Haider Hossain case of Jhalukathi.
State Minister for home Shamsul Haq Tuku, Home Secretary Abdus sobhan Sikder, Additional IG (CID) Shah Zaman Raj and concerned senior officers were present.

  HC stays proceedings of libel cases against Opposition Chief Whip Farroque

UNB, Dhaka

The High Court on Tuesday stayed for six months the proceedings of seven identical libel cases filed against Opposition Chief Whip Zainul Abdin Farroque on charges of making "derogatory remarks" about Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's son Sajeeb Wazed Joy over his alleged involvement in the illegal VoIP (voice over internet protocol) business.
Passing the interim order of stay upon a writ petition filed by Farroque, an HC division bench headed by Justice Nazmun Ara Sultana issued a separate rule upon the government to explain in four weeks why the proceedings of the cases should not be declared illegal.
The cases were filed on different dates in the courts of Shariatpur, Nilphamari, Rangpur, Bogra, Pabna, Sylhet and Dhaka.
Earlier, Farroque in compliance with the High Court directives had surrendered to the trial courts and secured bail in connection with the cases. Barrister Moudud Ahmed appeared for Farroque.

  15 get life term for murder
UNB, Mymensingh

The district court today sentenced 15 men to life imprisonment for murder of a businessman at Gaffargaon 16 years ago.
Judge Sharifuddin Ahmed handed down the punishment to Mustafa, Shamsul Haq, Nazrul Islam, Rafiqul Islam, Surat Ali, Nurul Islam, Liaqat Ali, Sultan, Swapan, Ripon, Abdul Awal, Abdul Mannan, Solaiman, Shahid and Anwar Hossain.
They were also fined Tk 5,000 each, in default to suffer 3 months more in jail.
Another accused, Nazimuddin, was awarded one year jail with a fine of Tk 3,000. According to the prosecution, businessman Abdus Salam attempted to construct a shopping house on disputed land on May 11, 1994.

Sports

Dhaka Div scores 196 against Ctg Div in U-16 cricket
UNB, Dhaka

Dhaka Division (north) were all out for 196 in 66.2 overs against Chittagong Division on the first day of the two-day match of the Standard Chartered Young Tigers U-16 National
Cricket Tournament at the City Club ground in Uttara on Tuesday.
Sent to bat first, Dhaka Division faced early batting jolt losing five wickets for 86 in 23.6 overs in the face of disciplined bowling attack by Chittagong Division.
However, skipper Abu Naser's responsible half century and useful innings by tail-enders Omar Faruque and Tashdid Ahmed helped Dhaka Division to take the total near 200.
Naser scored 51 runs while Omar and Tashdid added 35 and 29 runs respectively.
Ronny Chowdhury claimed three wickets for 67 runs while Moniruzzaman, Younus Ehan and Jane Alam took two wickets each for 19, 28 and 57 runs respectively.
In reply, Chittagong Division started their innings and scored 75 for no loss in 32 overs at stumps on the day.
After the departure of opener Saddam Hossain (20) as retired hurt, another opener Anisur Rahman and one down Mohammad Sujan were batting with 36 and 9 runs respectively as the bails were drawn for
the day.

  Bangladesh League
Dhaka Mohammedan overpowers Biani Bazar 4-1

TBT report

Dhaka Mohammedan Spor-ting Club scored a convincing 4-1 victory against Biani Bazar Sporting Club in the Bangladesh Football League at Bangabandhu National Stadium in the city on Tuesday.
National ace Zahid Hasan Ameli scored a brace on 4 and 32 minutes, while Komol (35 minutes) and Emeka (89 minutes) scored one goal apiece for the capital based team. Layek scored the only goal for Biani Bazar on 69 minutes to reduce the margin 4-1.
Sunrise Sporting Club and North Baridhara Club played to a one-all draw in the Senior Division Football League at Bir Shreshtha Shaheed Mohammad Mus-tafa Stadium in Kamalapur.
Abul Kalam Azad scored after 18 minutes to give North Baridhara Club a 1-0 lead before the break but the Baridhara players failed to hold on to their lead. They allowed Sunrise players to regroup and make counter attacks.
With a number of chances frittered away, Rashed scored on 72 minutes to help his side draw level and gain a valuable point.

   Fletcher helps Zimbabwe take baby steps
AFP, Harare

Former England coach Duncan Fletcher has returned to his roots at the Harare academy, bent on strengthening Zimbabwe's cricket development.
But the ex-Zimbabwe skipper was not working with the current national team, which is optimistic of a return to the Test match arena after a four-year absence.
Instead he was guiding young prospects, from 15 to 18 years old, who have all been inspired by seeing former teenage star Elton Chigumbura ascend to the captaincy of the national one-day international team.
Bright-eyed youngsters gathered around Fletcher under a large tent on the edge of four practice nets set up on the square of the Academy ground, now rather grandly known as the High Performance Centre.
They were filled with the knowledge that Chigumbura played first class cricket at 15 years old.
And they were well aware of dramatic events in 2001 that brought them to this opportunity in their young cricket lives.
It has been nine years, when they were at junior school, since Zimbabwe cricket was thrown into turmoil.
Sackings, strikes, walkouts, allegations of racism and financial irregularities, hastily assembled raw replacements, and the inevitable embarrassing results led to the refusal of countries such as Australia, New Zealand and Sri Lanka to fulfil Test match commitments against them.
Fletcher opted not to discuss his role.
"I don't talk to journalists," he said.
However, HPC director Kevin Curran, another former Test player, was more forthcoming. "Basically you cannot create quality players overnight," he said.
"We need to work from schools level and look further forward. It all takes time, lots of time, to bring the best out of young cricketers, to build them to international level. So the major factor for us is not so much talent as preparation.
"We need to identify potential at 15 years old and then work together towards achievement of this programme."
By "together" he meant Fletcher - "probably the best coach in the world" - who teamed up with national coach Alan Butcher.
They are assisted by Curran, former Zimbabwe Test all-rounder and captain Heath Streak, opening Test batsman Alistair Campbell, the recently short-term contracted spinner Brian Jennings, prolific batsman David Houghton and others.
These men are, or have been, working on a near-daily basis since the formation last year of a franchised national professional domestic league.
Curran revealed that the country might soon benefit from contracting three or four international stars into the league during their respective off seasons.

  Form and fitness concerns cloud England's outlook
AFP, London

Few pundits expect England to be overly troubled by any of their opponents in group C.
Instead, meetings with the United States, Slovenia and Algeria will be scrutinised for pointers as to the ability of Fabio Capello's squad to progress deep into the tournament after a domestic club season that has provided the Italian with encouragement and cause for concern in roughly equal measure. Capello has been spared the injury headaches that bedevilled Sven-Goran Eriksson in the run-up to the 2002 and 2006 finals, with midfield anchor Gareth Barry the only serious worry on that score.
The early demise of English clubs in the Champions League redu-ced the demands on his players in the final month of the campaign and Capello will have been cheered by the prolific form of Wayne Rooney and Frank Lampard. On the negative side, other key figures-Steven Gerrard, John Terry and Rio Ferdinand-have all endured seasons blighted, to varying degrees, by injuries and poor form.
Barry has been an automatic pick under Capello and his ability to shield the back four is so essential to the Italian's system that he is considering switching to a three-centreback formation if the Manchester City midfielder fails to recover from an ankle ligament injury in time. The build-up to England's opening match, against the United States in Rustenburg on June 12, is sure to involve plenty of reminiscing about the only previous World Cup meeting between the two countries.
The Americans' 1-0 win in Belo Horizonte, Brazil in 1950, still ranks as one of the greatest shocks in the history of the tournament.
But it remains the only time England have lost to their transatlantic allies and, despite the United States beating Spain on their way to the Confederations Cup final last year, they would happily settle for a point from the group opener.
Capello's England comfortably outclassed Bill Bradley's side in a 2-0 friendly defeat in May 2008 but were given far more problems by Slovenia in a 2-1 win in another Wembley friendly later that year.
Algeria represent more of an unknown quantity but should hold no fears for a squad that, under Capello, has regained the confidence that had drained as a result of their failure to reach Euro 2008 under Steve McClaren. Friendly defeats by Brazil, France and Spain suggest Capello's squad remain a little behind the world's best but they have become efficient at disposing of second-tier nations.
A qualifying group that included Croatia was navigated with ease, England winning nine of their ten matches and scoring 34 goals in the process.
FIFA's rankings suggest Bradley's mix of veterans and new faces should join England in the second round but the Americans will be wary of a Slovenia squad that created a major upset by beating Russia in a play-off to clinch their place in the finals.
Matjaz Kek's squad will arrive in South Africa determined to banish painful memories of 2002, when the country's first World Cup appearance was overshadowed by a row between star player Zlatko Zahovic and coach Srecko Katanec which resulted in Zahovic being sent home after the first match.
The rest of the squad followed him after three defeats in their group matches but, according to captain Robert Koren, it will be a much more focused and unified squad that arrives in South Africa. Like the Slovenians, Algeria defied the odds to reach their first finals since 1986, via a play-off with arch rivals Egypt, and veteran coach Rabah Saadane believes his squad can look forward to playing without fear.

  T20 triumph as good as Ashes win: Collingwood
AFP, London

England captain Paul Collingwood believes his side's ICC World Twenty20 triumph is just as significant as their Ashes win over Australia last year.
Collingwood led England to their first ever success in a global tournament as his team defeated Australia by seven wickets in the World Twenty20 final on Sunday.
And the Durham batsman is convinced England's victory over their old rivals in Barbados is the equal of last year's Ashes victory as it has lifted a major weight off his players' shoulders.
"We went over there to win a World Cup and we achieved that," Collingwood told Radio 5 Live on England's return home to London on Tuesday.
"It's a massive achievement. We've had a monkey on our backs having not won a ICC trophy and put that right.
"It's right up there with last year's Ashes win. We had a team with plenty of belief and a team with plenty of skill.
"The brand of cricket we played was exciting. We really took it to the opposition. "Really it was about consistent performances right the way through and we built on that momentum right the way through to the final."
Collingwood insists beating the Australia team again was a massive boost to England's confidence ahead of the Ashes tour later this year. "Of course it's different to Ashes. But in the last five years we've done well against them (Australia)," he said.
"Of course it's a different form of game but beating them is always sweet."It's a different form of the game to the Ashes - it only takes three hours and the tournament only went for a couple of weeks - but there's still all that preparation work you've got to do.
"When you do something for the first time - winning the World Cup for us as the England cricket team - it's definitely something very special," he said.
"You're playing against world-class outfits, there's always challenges that come along at different stages throughout the tournament. "The way that the guys have overcome all them and come out on top, a lot of credit goes to the boys. The euphoria of winning it is very, very similar to the Ashes."
Collingwood denied that his success as Twenty20 skipper would put Andrew Strauss under pressure to retain his place as captain of the 50-over side.
Strauss was not selected to go to the Caribbean while he opted to rest from the tour of Bangladesh earlier this year, when Alastair Cook led England to a whitewash success in the Test and one-day series.
"I don't think so, not at all. Andrew Strauss and Andy Flower have been a real force for us over the last year," Collingwood said.
"They're a great combination together. I guess all the team ethos and all the values they've installed in us over the past year is one of the reasons why we've gone out there and done so well in winning the World Cup.
"You can give him (Strauss) a lot of credit, even though he wasn't there, for what we've achieved. Andrew Strauss is our one-day captain and our Test captain and that's final.
"This was solely my job as Twenty20 captain, to go out and win the World Cup, which is exactly what we've done. "There's no pressure on Andrew coming back in. He's a fantastic leader a lot of this kind of success we've had over the last few weeks can go down to a lot of the values he and Andy Flower have installed in us over the past year.
"Everybody I'm sure will be looking forward to him coming back. I haven't spoken to him (Strauss) yet. I've had a couple of text messages from him, pretty much along the lines of 'get in' and 'well done'.

  Aussie media gloomy over ‘painful’ loss
AFP, Sydney

Australian media Tuesday admitted the World Twenty20 final defeat to England "hurts" and hoped it did not foreshadow more pain in this year's Ashes series against their arch-rivals.
Low-key newspaper coverage also predicted the axe for captain Michael Clarke, whose failure with the bat helped England secure their first ever world cricket title by seven wickets in Barbados. Sydney's Daily Telegraph ran a picture of the dejected Clarke standing in front of England's celebrating players, under the headline, "Poms target Ashes after our painful Twenty20 hiding". "It's not like losing the Ashes-but it still hurts," the story read. "Against Eng-land, it always does."
Victoria captain Cameron White was tagged as favourite to replace Clarke, who is suddenly in the firing line despite Australia's positive tournament including a memorable semi-final win over Pakistan with just a ball to spare. The Telegraph found echoes in England's Ashes victory last year, and gloomily pondered whether Sunday's result was a precursor of this year's Test series.
"As England romped to their seven-wicket win, the sounds of an enraptured Barmy Army echoed around Kensington Oval in such a manner that you thought, for a second, you were back at The Oval when England reclaimed the Ashes last August," said the article headlined "Dead and buried". "While they mightn't have been kissing a little urn and soaking themselves in champagne, that they were on a victory dais holding a piece of silverware at Australia's expense provided a disturbing mental image of what could lie ahead." The Sydney Morning Herald ran with the headline: "Clarke in firing line after final capitulation", while The Australian's back-page story was titled, "T20 defeat puts heat on Clarke's future".

  Bolt vows ‘fast time’ at 100m season opener
AFP, Daegu

World and Olympic triple gold medallist Usain Bolt gets his 100-metre season under way at the Daegu Pre-Championships Meeting today and has vowed a "very fast time".
The Jamaican, who owns the 100m world record of 9.58 seconds and 200m world record of 19.19 seconds, will face three other sub 10-second runners at the stadium, which will host next year's World Championships.
They include American Travis Padgett, who clocked 9.92sec in the windy Doha Diamond League meet last week, and another Jamaican, Michael Frater, fourth in the Qatari capital in 9.94sec. 60m World Indoor Championships silver medallist Mike Rodgers of the United States also takes part, with a career best of 9.94sec from last season.
But none is in same league as Bolt, who opted to start his 100m season here to get a feel for the track that will host the worlds in August 2011.
"I can test the field and run on the track, so I can determine what I should work on for next year," he said.
The 23-year-old declined to say what time he was targeting, but insisted he would run "as hard as always," adding: "That's always my intention, to please the fans. Hopefully, it will be a very fast time.
"My limit? No one knows their limit. I keep training hard and stay focused and work hard," he said.
Neither of his two main 100m rivals, fellow Jamaican Asafa Powell and American Tyson Gay, are running in Daegu but they have already made clear they are eyeing his world record this year.
Powell, powered by a gusting desert wind, stormed to victory in Doha in 9.81sec while Gay shattered the 44-year-old world record for the straight line 200m on Sunday.
Other highlights on Wednesday include the men's 110m hurdles where Dayron Robles will commence his outdoor campaign. The 23-year-old Cuban is coming off a strong indoor season having won the 60m hurdles world indoor title. On the women's side, the best event looks to be the 100m.
Carmelita Jeter, the surprise of the late 2009 season with a blazing 10.64 100m personal best in Shanghai in September, will be looking for another good race here.
But the competition will be fierce as Jamaican Veronica Campbell-Brown also starts, having won her first 100m in Osaka a week ago when she clocked 11.02secs.

  SAfrica and FIFA combat World Cup ticket touts
AFP, Johannesburg

South Africa's trade minister warned football fans on Monday against purchasing World Cup tickets from touts or other unauthorised vendors, saying buyers could lose their money.
"We are concerned that consumers may be prejudiced by believing that they can purchase tickets through avenues which are not authorised by FIFA," trade minister Rob Davies said in a joint statement with the world football body.
"Consumers could lose the money that they have paid for tickets or be left in a situation of not receiving the tickets that they have paid for."
Those selling illegal tickets for the tournament could be prosecuted under a new regulation enacted by Davies, South Africa's department of trade and industry and football governing body FIFA said in a joint statement.
Under the electronic sales system used by FIFA, every ticket can be traced to its original buyer.
The ticket design features several security features, including a barcode with individual ticket information and a hologram of the World Cup logo.
Organisers say electronic turnstiles will be used at the ten host stadiums, making it easy to detect invalid or forged tickets.

  Abramovich has sights on Euro glory
AFP, London

Chelsea captain John Terry has revealed that Blues owner Roman Abramovich has already told his players they must set their sights on Champions League glory next season.
Terry and company were still celebrating completing the Premier League and FA Cup double when Abramovich reaffirmed his desire to see Chelsea crowned kings of Europe.
Carlo Ancelotti's side, who beat Portsmouth 1-0 in Saturday's FA Cup final, were knocked out of Europe's elite club competition by Jose Mourinho's Inter Milan in the last 16 this season.
The west London club have reached at least the semi-finals five times in seven years since Abramovich took over but have failed to win the tournament. Terry, whose missed penalty in the 2008 Champions League final cost Chelsea the trophy, told The Sun: "There is no doubt in Roman's mind and all our minds - we clearly want the Champions League. "He said we must get it next season even though he is delighted with the double and we're determined to do it.
"We've come so close over the last five or six years and, at times, have been the best team in the competition yet haven't gone on to win it. "If we can add the Champions League to that list, the fans, players, management and Roman would be very happy."
Chelsea head into the off-season in high spirits after the club's first ever double, with Terry revealing that coach Carlo Ancelotti belied his quiet image by leading the Cup final celebrations.
"We came out of Wembley on a coach after winning the Cup and the boys were all pretty excited as you can imagine, having just won the double for the first time in the club's history," Terry added.

  Rummenigge tries to console saddened Ribery
AFP, Berlin

Bayern Munich president Karl-Heinz Rummenigge admitted Tuesday that playmaker Franck Ribery had been hit hard by the failed appeal that has ruled him out of the Champions League final.
Bayern face Inter Milan at Real Madrid's Santiago Bernabeu stadium on Saturday with each side looking to lift the trophy that would secure a treble, both having won their domestic league and cup competitions.
Ribery was handed a three-match ban by European football's governing body UEFA after being red carded for a nasty tackle on Lyon striker Lisandro Lopez during their semi-final first leg in April.
The Frenchman had already served one match of his ban by being sidelined from the second leg in Lyon, but a Bayern appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to have the ban reduced was rejected on Monday.
Rummenigge admitted Bayern could suffer from losing such a "player of quality" for the final, their first since 2001 when they beat Spanish club Valencia in a penalty shoot-out.
But he tried to lift the spirits of the French international by promising it would not be Bayern's last bid for European club football's biggest trophy.
"Franck was very disappointed with the ruling and also sad that he's not going to be playing the final," Rummenigge told reporters Tuesday.
"I understand his disappointment and his distress but I'm sure it won't be the last time we contend the Champions League final. Next time, he'll be there and on the pitch to help us
win it."
In a statement Monday sport's top court said: "The CAS Panel has dismissed the appeal and confirmed the three-game suspension imposed by the UEFA Appeals Body on the Bayern Munich player Franck Ribery.

  Swiss loses key World Cup defender
AFP, Zurich

Key Switzerland defender Christoph Spycher has been ruled out of the World Cup due to a knee injury, the Swiss football federation announced Tuesday.
The injury also signals the end of Spycher's Switzerland career as he had planned to retire from international football after the World Cup finals in South Africa.
Spycher, who was included in Ottmar Hitzfeld's 23-man squad last week, tore ligaments in his left knee during a Bundesliga match with his former club Eintracht Frankfurt on April 10. He will be replaced on the left side of defence by the experienced Ludovic Magnin, who will take part in his fourth major international tournament.