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Leading News
Dhaka and Moscow sign nuclear
cooperation deal
Russia extends full support for setting up nuclear
power plants in Bangladesh
UNB, Dhaka
Bangladesh and Russia Friday signed a 5-year Framework
Agreement on Cooperation in the Field of the Use of
Nuclear Energy for Peaceful Purposes to make ways for
nuclear power plants to meet the growing power demand in
the country.
Architect Yeafesh Osman, State Minister for Science and
ICT, signed the agreement on behalf of the Bangladesh
government while Sergey Kiriyenko, Director General of the
State Atomic Energy Corporation - Rosatom - signed on
behalf of the Russian Government.
Foreign Minister Dipu Moni, who held talks with Russian
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow, witnessed the
signing ceremony.
As per the agreement, the future cooperation between the
two countries would include, among others, (i) design,
construction and operation of nuclear power and research
reactors; (ii) Nuclear fuel supply, taking back the spent
nuclear fuel and nuclear waste management; (iii) personnel
training and capacity building for operation and
maintenance of the Plants; (iv) Research, education and
training of personnel in the Russian Federation in the
field of the use of nuclear energy; (v) development of
innovative reactor technologies in accordance with IAEA
safety requirements, nonproliferation of nuclear weapons
and environmental protection; and (vi) exploration and
mining of uranium and thorium deposits.
According to the agreement, the Parties shall assure the
transfer of materials, technologies, equipment and
services for implementation of joint programs in the field
of the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.
The Parties shall establish a Joint Coordination Committee
to control the implementation of this agreement.
After the signing of the agreement, Director Gene-ral of
Rosatom Sergey Kiriyenko, who is the former Prime Minister
of Russia, expressed his full support and commitment for
establishing nuclear power plants in Bangladesh.
A high-level delegation from Russia will visit Bangladesh
soon to take forward next steps in implementing the
Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant Project.
The Foreign Minister and the State Minister for Science
and ICT spoke about the determination of Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina's government to build nuclear power plants
in meeting the rising power demand.
The Bangladesh delegation also had an official meeting
with State Atomic Energy Corporation "Rosatom" on May 19.
The State Minister for Science and ICT emphasized the need
for nuclear power option in meeting increasing power
shortage and the election pledge of the present government
on the nuclear power project.
Bangladesh side requested the Russian authorities to
assist in establishing two Nuclear Reactors with the
capacity of 1000 MW each.
Nikolay Spasskiy, the Deputy Director General,
International Cooperation of ROSATOM, termed Bang-ladesh
as a strategic partner of Russia. He emphasized that
nuclear energy is the best choice to meet the growing
energy needs in Bangladesh.
Confusing
move by Titas on CNG filling stations
Written order issued Thursday, suspended verbally
within hours
UNB, Dhaka
An order of the Titas Gas authorities on shutting down CNG
refueling stations has created confusion among the pump
operators.
Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Ltd issued
an order on Thursday asking all the CNG filling stations
in and around the capital to remain closed from 9am to 4pm
every day except the weekend, Friday and Saturday.
The order, issued in writing, was made effective from May
23 referring to the government's decision. But within
hours of serving the letter, the order was suspended
verbally that created confusion among the CNG filling
station operators.
Lenin Talukder, the owner of Talukder CNG Filling Station
in the city' s Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, who received such an
order signed by the Manager of Zone-11, said that he
received the written order Thursday morning.
"But some officials of Titas came to my filling station at
11 pm and told the staff there that the order was
suspended. This confused and surprised me," he said.
Finance Secretary of the Bangladesh CNG Asso-ciation
Abdullah Al Mamun said he had received information that
many of the association members had already received such
an order. When contacted about the order, Titas Gas
Managing Director Md Abdul Aziz Khan said he also heard
that such a letter was served in compliance with the
government decision. But the order did not come into
effect as no time or date was mentioned in the letter.
When his attention was drawn to the order's effective date
and time mentioned in the letter, he said: "We're yet to
start implementation of the government decision."
State-owned Petrobangla, the principal organization in the
country's energy sector, had earlier took a similar
decision to keep the CNG refueling stations closed against
the backdrop of nagging gas crisis. It also sent the
decision to the Energy Ministry for endorsement.
When contacted, Petro-bangla Chairman Dr. Hossain Mansur
said he had no knowledge about the letter served by the
Titas Gas company ordering to shut the filling stations
from 9am to 4pm. He also said he did not receive any order
from the Energy Ministry in this regard.
20
injured in clash between AL and BNP in Magura
UNB, Magura
At least 20 people were injured in a clash between Awami
League and BNP activists over establishing supremacy at
Gazdubba village in Salikha upazila on Friday.
Police quoting local people said there was a longstanding
enmity between local BNP leader Intaz Mollah and Awami
Leader Abdur Razzak Mollah over establishing supremacy in
the area. As a sequel to the enmity an altercation erupted
between the two groups over a trifling matter in the
morning and later both the groups equipped with sticks and
lethal weapons attacked each other leaving 20 people
injured from both sides. Of the injured 11 people were
rushed to Sadar hospital. On information, police rushed to
the spot and brought the situation under control. They
also arrested seven people from the spot. Additional
police forces have been deployed at the village to avert
further trouble. Separate cases were filed with the
police.
Khaleda’s bid to save
war criminals will not succeed: Matia
UNB, Dhaka
Branding opposition leader Begum Khaleda Zia as a seasoned
liar, Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury on Friday
alleged that BNP has embarked on a fresh mission to save
the war criminals in the name of "so-called
anti-government" movement.
"You (Khaleda) won't be able to save the war criminals
through hartal and by creating anarchy. You tried your
best to save the killers of Bangabandhu, but you have
failed… war criminals will be hanged the same way," she
said.
The government would not create any obstacle, "but I know
people will reject the hartal," Matia said while speaking
as chief guest at a rally in the evening.
City Awami League organized the rally at its premises
protesting the "falsehood dished out to the nation by BNP
and Khaleda Zia" at the May 19 grand rally.
Acting President of Dhaka city Awami League MA Aziz
presided over the rally while AL joint general secretary
Mahbubul Alam Hanif addressed it as the key speaker. City
Publicity Secretary Abdul Haque Sabuj conducted the rally.
Matia said Begum Khaleda Zia has "become crazy to save her
mentors who took care of her at the cantonment" during the
nine months of liberation war.
Referring to Khaleda's demand for withdrawal of cases
filed against her and her sons, she said: "The cases were
filed during the caretaker government. Go to court and
face the cases. Don't blame anybody."
Accusing Khaleda Zia of destabilizing the country within
first 50 days of the present democratic government
"through BDR mutiny," Matia said she (Khaleda) has a habit
of thinking that people forget old happenings very fast.
"People are very conscious right now. They know how you
killed farmers during your 91-96 tenure; how you gave
shelter to militants and how much money you and your sons
had siphoned off through corruption during 2001-2006," she
said.
Matia asked Khaleda to see her own face in the mirror
first before blaming others. "Go slowly, stop lying. Your
dream will remain a dream. We'll lead the nation in future
again with the mandate of countrymen because your (Khaleda)
vision is corruption," she said.
Mahbubul Alam Hanif in his address said that BNP
chairperson Khaleda Zia had tried to "misguide countrymen
through her untrue facts." He alleged that Begum Zia does
not want the trial of war criminals. "But mind it, we'll
surely complete the trial of war criminals… this
government will also try you (Khaleda) and your sons for
corruption," he said. Hanif said the Awami League is not
at all worried over the opposition announced programmes,
including hartal "Show respect to democratic system and
refrain from destructive politics."
No relation of hartal
with trial of war criminals: BNP
UNB, Dhaka
Refuting the allegation by ruling Awami League leaders,
BNP leaders Friday said the June 27 countrywide
dawn-to-dusk hartal was called paying respect to public
opinion, as people are "aggrieved" by the government's
activities.
They said there is no relation of the hartal with the
trial of war criminals. When contacted over phone this
evening, BNP standing committee member Dr Khandaker
Mosharraf Hossain told UNB that they have spelled out some
programmes, including hartal, in protest against a number
of issues and demanding a halt to certain acts of the
government as well as for resolving some of the pressing
issues.
He said the way Awami League is reacting to the proposed
hartal it seems they have really become afraid of it.
"They are telling irrelevant things to hide their failure
and divert public attention."
Dr Mosharraf said hartal is a part of movement and while
in opposition Awami League had called a lot of hartals
against the last BNP government. Even they had called
hartal during within first three months of the last BNP
government.
The hartal has been called not to implement anybody's
agenda, nor to foil the trial of war criminals, he said.
BNP senior joint secretary general Mirza Fakh-rul Islam
Alamgir said the government does not want to try the war
criminals and just killing time over the matter.
Referring to the recent resignation of an investigation
officer for the war crimes trial, he said that till now
the government has not done anything tangible for the
trial of war criminals.
Call to give highest
priority to energy, power in next budget
UNB, Dhaka
Putting highest priority on energy and power sector in the
upcoming budget a former Finance Adviser expressed doubts
that the government might not be able to implement the big
Annual Development Programme (ADP) of around Tk 38,500
crore.
In an exclusive interview with UNB at his Uttara residence
in the city, Dr. Mirza Azizul Islam also identified
transportation, agriculture, water resources, rural
development, health, education and extension of social
safety net as the other priority sectors for the budget of
fiscal 2010-2011.
He also demanded reactivating the Regulatory Reforms
Commission. The former adviser opined that the next budget
size of over Tk 130,000 crore is rational, as there is a
need for more public expenditure in infrastructures
including power, transportation, health, education and
agriculture.
"The public expenditure in Bangladesh is less than the
other countries proportionate to the GDP," he said.
But about the ADP size of around Tk 38,500 crore, he felt
that it would not be possible to implement the ADP as the
amount is too large - a big jump from the current fiscal.
Mirza Aziz said that the size of ADP in 2008-09 fiscal was
Tk 25,600 crore, which was increased to Tk 30,500 crore in
the current fiscal.
"The ADP was later revised to Tk 28,500 crore but I doubt
the ADP implementation won't cross Tk 24,000 crore in the
current fiscal as the implementation rate is 48 percent
till March."
He cited two reasons - administrative weakness and lack of
trust - as the major barriers towards full implementation
of the ADP.
To enhance the implementation capacity, he emphasized
shortening the time for issuance of work order and more
seriousness among the secretaries and other subordinate
officials. The former adviser also stressed increasing the
monitoring capacity of the Implementation Monitoring and
Evaluation Division (IMED).
‘Feasibility study
soon to build third seaport at Kalapara’
BSS, Kalapara
Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan said here Friday that
consultant will be appointed soon to conduct feasibility
study on the construction of the country's third seaport
at Kalapara.
"For economic emancipation of the country, development
activities will be geared up further by proper utilization
of the seaports," he told a rally at Lalua union here
after visiting different places of Andhar-manik and
Ramnabad rivers to set up the third seaport at Kalapara.
With Lalua union parishad chairman Rezaul Karim Biswas in
the chair, the function was also addressed, among others,
by State Minister for Water Resources Md Mahbubur Rahman,
Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the
Shipping Ministry Whip Noor-e-Alam Chowdhury and local AL
leaders Enamul Islam Litu and SM Razibul Hasan.
The shipping minister said the present government has
given more importance to the development of neglected
southern region. "Mongla Port has returned to the trend of
profit by overcoming losses due to effective steps taken
by the present government," he mentioned.
Back Page
14 killed, 44 injured in road crashes
UNB, Gaibandha
At least 12 people were killed and 23 others injured in
two separate road crashes on Dhaka-Rangpur highway in
Gobindaganj upazila on Friday morning.
The first accident took place in Katakhali area early in
the morning when a Rangpur-bound night coach from
Chittagong collided head-on with a Bogra-bound truck,
leaving nine people killed on the spot and 24 people
injured. The identity of the deceased could not be known
immediately.
Later, an unidentified female passenger died on the way to
a local hospital while the other injured were rushed to
Bogra and Rangpur Medical College Hospitals.
In another incident, two people were killed in a collision
between two buses at Kalitala Bakchar in the same upazila.
A bus driver died and 20 others were injured in a road
accident near Garagonj bus stand on Jhenidah-Kushtia road
in Shailakupa upazila on Friday.
The identity of the deceased bus driver, aged about 50
years, could not be known immediately.
Local sources said the accident took place at noon when a
Kushtia bound bus collided head on with a truck, leaving
the bus driver dead on the spot and injuring 20 bus
passengers.
A man was killed and a cop injured when a speedy bus
rammed their motorbike in Sonatala area of the district
town Thursday morning.
The deceased was identified as Moin Uddin, 38, hailed from
Moralganj upazila of the district.
Police said the accident took place at about 9am when the
Bagerhat bound bus from Khulna hit the motorcycle in the
area, leaving its co-rider Moin dead on the spot and
driver ASI Shariful Islam seriously injured.
On information, police recovered the body and sent it to
Sadar Hospital morgue for autopsy while the injured was
admitted to the same hospital. A case was filed.
Int’l cooperation
needed to meet food security challenges: Razzak
UNB, Dhaka
Food and Disaster Manag-ement Minister Dr Abdur Razzak who
is now in Was-hington said the Ban-gladesh government
would finalize the Food Security Action Plan this year for
ensuring food security for all.
Speaking at a symposium on Global Agriculture and Food
Security organized by the Chicago Council of Global
Affairs on Thursday, he said Bangladesh's people are
facing the odds of nature with resilience and mentioned
about cyclone Aila when the people stood up to meet the
challenges caused by the devastating cyclone. About the
impact of global climate change on Food Security, Dr
Razzak emphasized on urgent action by the international
community.
He informed the participants that Bangladesh is going to
organize a seminar on Food Security on May 26-27 in Dhaka.
USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah unveiled the implementation
strategy for the US government's Global Hunger and Food
Security Initiative. President Obama's administration has
added significant impetus to the issue of food security.
The US Congress has already tabled a bipartisan "Global
Food Security Act". US Congressmen, high government
officials and experts attended the daylong symposium.
Earlier, Rajiv Shah met with Dr Razzak and they discussed
issues pertaining to cooperation between Bangladesh and
USAID, particularly in the area of agriculture. The USAID
Administrator showed keen interest in the progress being
made by Bangladesh. He also informed the Minister of the
USAID's eagerness to work with Bangladesh in identified
areas of cooperation. Ban-gladesh Ambassador to the US
Akramul Qader was present in the meeting.
Incessant rain
disrupts normal life in Ctg
BSS, Chittagong
Intermittent moderate to heavy shower in the city and its
adjoining areas since Thurs-day disrupted normal life.
Fresh downpours in the backdrop of cyclonic storm Laila
increased the sufferings of the city dwellers today who
experienced a bit water-logging in almost entire city.
The shower accompanied by gusty wind damaged huge cables
of telephones and internet, uprooted trees and vegetable
fields
However, the shower seems to be welcome respite to the
city dwellers who had been reeling under sultry weather
coupled with power outage.
Met office sources said today's downpour began at about
12.30 am last night and continued intermittently till the
evening creating serious dislocation in normal public life
as well as hampered the business activities.
Loading and unloading specially of bulk cargo handling was
disrupted due to moderate shower. The activities Met
office measured 17.2-millimeter rainfall in last 24 hours
ending at 3 pm today. The Met office forecast further
rainfall in next 24 hours in different parts of Chittagong
region. Maritime port Chittagong has been advised to hoist
cautionary signal number 3 until further notification.
City residents said that a few low-laying areas in the
city went under knee- deep water due to continuous
rainfall.
Dipu Moni and Lavrov agree
on enhancing trade, Russian investment
UNB, Dhaka
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Friday expressed
his keenness to intensify cooperation with Bangladesh in
wide-ranging fields, including the energy sector, and
forge closest ties to work hand in hand.
Lavrov expressed the eagerness during an official meeting
with Foreign Minister Dipu Moni in Moscow at the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, according to
a message from Bangladesh Mission in Moscow.
Dipu Moni recalled the enormous contributions made by the
former USSR to the independence of Bangladesh in 1971 as
well as to the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the
war ravaged country.
She emphasized on the foundation of close bilateral
relations laid down by the father of the nation
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and conveyed the
intention of his daughter, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina,
to revive that "natural" relationship through cooperation
in all conceivable areas for mutual interests. Dipu and
Lavrov agreed on taking concrete steps and initiatives for
enhancement of trade, promotion of Russian investment,
collaboration on food security and agricultural
development, and strengthening cultural ties through
exchange programs. They also discussed the ways and means
of enhancing bilateral trade and investments, and removing
barriers to trade.
The two Foreign Ministers concurred on intensifying
traditional cooperation in the areas of education and
defense between the two friendly countries. Bangladesh
Foreign Minister made a special request for a permanent
property for Bangladesh Mission in Moscow.
Lavrov expressed his government's full support for
establishing nuclear power plants in Bangladesh. Both the
Foreign Ministers expressed satisfaction over the signing
of the 'Framework Agreement on Cooperation in the Field of
the Use of Nuclear Energy for Peaceful Purposes'.
The two Foreign Ministers emphasized on working together
in oil and gas exploration and development of the sector
for which delegations of Russian State Company - Gazprom -
will visit Bangladesh for assessment and conclusion of an
MOU.
They also agreed to work together in the area of
counter-terrorism and to develop a joint-working group for
that purpose.
Govt to
complete war crime trial in its tenure: Kamrul
BSS, Dhaka
State Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs
Advocate Kamrul Islam Friday said trial of war criminals
would be completed during the tenure of the present
government.
"This is our election manifesto. There is no reason to
shift the position from the process of trying the war
criminals," he told a discussion organized by Biswa Kabita
Kantha Parishad at the Jatiya Press Club here.
Chairman of Birshreshtha Foundation Mili Rahman, Vice
Chancellor of World University of Bangladesh Prof Dr Abdul
Mannan Chowdhury, Chairman of Muktijoddya Oikya Parishad
Dr Nazim Uddin Ahmed, Director of Jatiya Grantha Kendra
Poet Rafiq Azad and Professor of Shahjalal Science and
Technology Abdul Awal Biswas, among others, addressed the
discussion with Kabita Kantha Parishad chairman poet
Jahangir Alam in the chair.
Advocate Kamrul said demand for trial of war criminal has
turned into a mass demand like the 1966 six-point demand.
Criticizing the role of an opposition party regarding the
trial of war criminals, he said, "We thought all political
parties would reach a consensus except war criminals. But
the BNP has opposed it as the party patronized them after
1975. For this, BNP does not want to hold trial of war
criminals."
The state minister raised a question how Shaheed President
Ziaur Rahman conducted the activities against the spirit
of liberation war despite he was a sector commander during
war of liberation and reader of proclamation paper of
Independence.
He said, "I can prove by information and arguments that
Shaheed President Ziaur Rahman was an associate of
Pakistan in the War of Liberation. If that was not so, he
could not have killed 3000 freedom fighters and killing
incidents of November 7 would not have taken place.
The government is taking time to collect and examine
necessary information and documents for holding trial of
those crimes, which happened 39 years back.
"We will not hold any questionable trial and we want to
hold an international standard transparent trial," he
said.
Heavy downpours disrupt public life
in Barisal region
UNB, Barisal
The Barisal port authorities restricted plying of motor
launch type water transports up to 65-feet in length in 29
routes within Barisal region until further order as the
met office asked the port authorities to hoist cautionary
signal no. 2 from early Friday.
Cloudy weather and downpours started from Thursday night
paralyzed normal life in Barisal Region.
However, the people in the southern region heaved a sigh
of relief following the downpour ending a long hot spell.
Cyclonic storm Laila which crossed the Bangladesh
coastline early Friday. The situation would improve within
next 48 hours, the local Met Office said. It recorded 79
mm of rainfall from 12:00am to 3:00pm on Friday and wind
speed of 26-40 km per hour.
Kazi Wakil Newaz, Barisal port officer and BIWTA deputy
director said the Barisal river port authority stopped
plying ML type motor launches due to inclement weather and
rough river condition. Other types of water transports
including triple deck Barisal-Dhaka bound launches were
advised to ply cautiously, he added.
Roadside makeshift shops and hawkers were forced to close
their businesses and low-income group including day labors
also are left without any work. Most people were forced to
stay indoors. Traffic movement in Barisal city was thin.
Some city roads and low-lying areas were submerged by the
downpours due to lack of proper sewerage system causing
public sufferings. Sudhir Chandra Shil, additional
director Department of Agricultural Extension Barisal said
the downpour on the eve of the monsoon may be useful for
Aus paddy cultivation.
UNB Patuakhali correspondent said continuous downpour
paralyzed normal life throughout Patuakhali district.
Small and ML type water transports were anchored at
respective terminals. Road communications with Kuakata
tourist zone were disrupted as the ferry gangways went
under water.
Peoples living in islands, riverbanks and coastal area
were stranded due to rising water-level of the sea and the
tide of 6-8 feet high than normal.
Editorial
State of public health
services
The quality and use
of public health services are declining gradually with the
increasing use of private health services in the country,
revealed a study on Thursday. The study, run by Sweden-based
donor organisation SIDA in nine locations across the country,
says people's dependency on the government health services
continues to decline as the services are grossly understaffed
and unsatisfactory.The report of the study was placed at a
dissemination and discussion session on sharing of findings in
the city.
The study found that people actively seek access to health
services from a variety of providers but they have limited
information about the services. Being failed by the formal
medical services, people tend to go to traditional health
service providers where service is cheap but quality may be
variable. Most people still feel unable to complain about poor
public services and view most health professionals as remote
and non-responsive. The study recommended that awareness must
be raised among people to demand for better services.
The study report reflects a grim picture of the country's
public health services. But, in fact, the state of the public
health services is more appalling than this. The
government-run hospitals in cities and towns are virtually
hubs of corruption, mismanagement and mistreatment while at
the grassroots level, the upazila health and family welfare
centres are beset with acute manpower shortage. Doctors do not
want to stay and serve in the rural areas. Thousands of posts
of doctors and nurses are now lying vacant. There are some
health complexes without doctors and medicines, and in some
others patients have to stay on the floor for want of beds.
Yet thousands of people throng the public hospitals and health
centres for treatment as they have no other place to go or no
money to get treatment at the private clinics.
The country's public hospitals are unable to meet the growing
demand for medical care to the patients. Almost all public
hospitals are plunged in mismanagement, irregularities and
anomalies. The patients hardly get proper medical treatment in
these hospitals as in many cases medicines meant for the
patients are smuggled out and the doctors and nurses seldom
pay enough attention to the ailing people. Yet, the poor
patients who are unable to meet the high cost of treatment in
private clinics and hospitals throng the public hospitals and
health centres for treatment.
During the last caretaker government rule, there was a move
under the prescription of the World Bank to handover the
government hospitals to the private ownership on the pretext
of rampant corruption and irregularities. The move was
vehemently opposed by different circles specially the
physicians. They argued that private hospitals and clinics are
centres of brisk business in the name of medical care and that
privatisation of the public hospitals will help a section of
businessmen earn more profit, but make medical treatment
unaffordable for the poor people. They stressed that it will
be suicidal to privatise the public health service sector at
the instance of the World Bank. In the face of stiff
opposition the controversial move fell flat.
However, the way the public hospitals and health centres are
being run and the patients being treated and even denied
medical care cannot be acceptable under any circumstances. It
is the constitutional obligation of the government to provide
health service and medical care for the citizens. And to that
end, it is most essential to modernise the public hospitals by
freeing those from anomalies and corruption and improving the
services. Health service sector must be revitalised and run
properly and efficiently. The latest government move is good.
It will be a big step to serve the public interest if it can
be made mandatory for the doctors to serve in the rural areas
for at least a certain period.
Crisis of fish
The crisis fish in
the country has taken an acute shape and still continues to
aggravate due to rising demand and falling supply. Country's
fish production falls short of the demand and worse still,
many species of the traditional fish are facing extinction due
to various reasons including adverse impact of climate change.
According to a report at least 57 indigenous species of sweet
water fishes, particularly small ones, in the southern region
are disappearing fast. The people of the country are now
facing growing scarcity of fish. The condition is so serious
that people of limited income now are now almost unable to
procure fish from the market due to abnormally high prices.
In fact, Bangladesh now faces acute crisis of fish as there is
wide gap between the demand and production. Besides, the
shortage has increased due to large scale legal exports as
well as smuggling out of hilsha fish from the country. The
huge shortage contributes to the skyrocketing of fish prices
in the local market. The country's fish deficit at present
stands at 1.37 lakh tons with the production being 25.63 lakh
tons as against the demand for 27 lakh tons annually.
As many of the rivers, canals, water- bodies, and ponds have
already dried up the natural breeding grounds of fishes have
been destroyed. Dearth of water in ponds, haors, beels and
other water-bodies are the main reasons for the shortfall in
the production of fishes in the country. Against this
backdrop, effective steps should be taken to protect the
canals, water bodies, haors and rivers and ensure the proper
atmosphere for spawning of fishes. All out efforts should be
made to increase fish production to meet the deficit.
Analysis
Let the future arrive
If the political
landscape of Pakistan and Afghanistan stabilises, the energy
transit fees will enrich both states and international trade
will enhance people's livelihood.
Zeenia Satti
The
future socio-economic landscape of South and Central Asia
carries the potential for free trade between the resource-rich
Central Asian states and the emergent Indian economy. The
Pak-Afghan territory will form an essential transit corridor
for trade between Central Asia and the world. Ports on the
Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal will become the hub of
Central Asian energy supply to the international market and
goods and services destined for consumers in South and Central
Asia.
If the political landscape of Pakistan and Afghanistan
stabilises, the energy transit fees will enrich both states
and international trade will enhance people's livelihood.
Once Afghanistan is stabilised, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan
should both harbour "open border" with Afghanistan. The
cultural similarities of the border lands of Turkmenistan,
Uzbekistan and Afghanistan boost the incentive for open
borders. For the smooth functioning of the trade corridor, and
for promoting maximum prosperity amongst the people of South
and Central Asia, the leaders, the rebels and the financial
elite of the region all must work towards peace that promotes
trade ties.
The US must save its troops from vicious combat and engage in
peace dialogue with the representatives of the people of
Afghanistan. Hamid Karzai is making sense by insisting on
negotiations with the Afghan resistance. Peace in the tribal
areas of Pakistan will return as soon as peace is established
in Afghanistan.
Once peace returns to the region, a free-trade zone should
extend from the Turkmen-Uzbek-Afghan (open) border, traverse
the centre of Afghan territory, extend to Pakistan's FATA
region through what should be an open Pak-Afghan border.
Included in the free-trade zone should be the entire area that
stretches from Peshawar to Quetta, turning both the metropolis
into a Karachi-like hub. This will lighten the burden caused
by migrants on Karachi while multiplying the centres of
economic opportunity in Pakistan.
The state of the art infrastructure should connect such a
free-trade zone to international ports on the Arabian Sea. The
same should extend to the Indian ports, including the Bay of
Bengal. This forms an ideal state for facilitating
international trade, supplying energy to world markets and
promoting peace in a region whose people will be happy at
their ever-growing chances at upward mobility.
The Indo-Pak hostilities negate either country's prosperity.
The stabilisation of Afghanistan should be the foremost
priority for the Obama administration. India is becoming
increasingly vocal for a regional force to negotiate peace in
Afghanistan by replacing the US and the NATO forces. Pakistan
should support instead of eschewing this stance.
The Taliban movement is like a troublesome weed in an area
whose future is better served by free-trade zones and open
borders that become the hub of cosmopolitan lifestyle,
servicing more than two billion people in the world's richest
and rapidly enriching societies such as China, India, the
revenue-rich Central Asian countries and the petrodollars-rich
Middle Eastern societies.
The future holds a promise of development of the Pakhtun lands
like never before. A rapid influx of capital, infrastructure
development, trade and employment opportunities await the
Pakhtuns. Their quality of hard work and honesty will ensure
their rise as the ace workforce in what will become a rapidly
expanding economy on their lands.
The strict ideological ethos of the Taliban movement cannot
survive the onslaught of powerful military and economic forces
that are bent upon shaping the region to serve the voracious
economies of future. For successfully ending this unfortunate
movement, Pakistan, India, and Afghanistan need policies that
nurture people's power in each country. Democracy should be
allowed to flourish in the entire region, including the valley
of Kashmir.
America needs to go a step further than showing verbal concern
for civilian lives in Afghanistan and relinquish the myth that
it is fighting only the unpopular Taliban. Washington has
verbally defined the Afghan national resistance and the latter
has succumbed to the definition. All the Afghan ethnic groups
are joined in the fight to expel foreigners from their land.
For peace to return to the region, it is necessary that NATO
allows an equitable induction of regional forces while
simultaneously reducing, not surging, its own in Afghanistan.
A negotiated settlement that allows the future to arrive
benefits all. Terrorism atrophies at the hands of prosperity.
The Hutaree Christian warriors of Michigan, Ohio and Indiana
formed a militia and conceived their violent plot against the
US government after the recession set in and the resultant
poverty started to fill people's lives with uncertainty and
misery. If, instead of negotiating with the 21-year-old Joshua
Stone, the US government had resorted to bombing the mobile
home where he was hiding, and had killed innocent children and
women with him, the movement would have spread in the region
instead of being locked up in a jail house.
The US needs to address its concern for terrorism through
oiling its intelligence and restraining its war-fighting
machinery. America's insistence that Pakistan use more force
to squash its domestic Taliban movement would be worth heeding
were it not for the poor example set by the US itself in this
regard. What was initially America's Afghan problem has
subsequently grown into its "Pakistan also" problem. The Iraq
problem has grown into "Yemen also" problem. Everywhere the US
has used military force for tackling its security concern, it
has ended up augmenting the same while simultaneously ruining
its economy. Nudged by the US in the same direction, Pakistan
has ended up morphing its FATA problem into "Punjab also"
problem. Why follow a course of action that is a field-tested
failure?
Traditional state warfare and traditional interrogatory
methods have augmented America's terrorism issue. The tortures
that have made headlines from the secret US prisons tell us
that not only a lot of false intelligence is being generated,
the secret prisons themselves have become terror-nests
hatching the likes of Beitullah Mehsud. Terrorism is best
pre-empted silently to prevent the terror movement from
gaining sympathy. For this, discreet intelligence is required.
The neo-cons' initiated myth that the US is fighting the
Taliban in Afghanistan, and the Obama administration's honest
acknowledgement that the US is not winning the war, have
negative repercussions for Pakistan. The Pakistani downtrodden
youth has become vulnerable to the misperception that the
Taliban are a brave, anti-imperial force. It is for this
reason that the US has to stop perpetuating the myth that the
US/NATO forces are engaged against the Taliban in Afghanistan,
and acknowledge that it is up against a nationalist movement
against foreign domination. The Taliban are a part of this
movement, not the whole of it. The politically correct and
moral course of action for the US, in the face of the
nationwide resistance, is to allow peace to prevail through a
representative system of governance and allow the future to
arrive in the region by leaving a legacy of peace builders,
not mass killers.
India is cognizant of this factor. Its military footprint in
Afghanistan is therefore non-existent, while its diplomatic,
political and economic footprints are spreading. Bloodshed in
Pakistan, as in Afghanistan, will further build the movement
against the state. All secular forces will end up conceding
the space to the Taliban in the end. Just as Ali Shariati's
murder by the CIA resulted in opening the space for Khomeini
and the IRP in Iran, Benazir's murder will end up opening the
space for the Taliban in Pakistan, if it is followed by
US-style bombardment of insurgents. .
The bad news for India, a country that is proudly poised to
shift the historic balance of power from Europe to Asia, is
that despite its best efforts to insulate itself, it too will
get entangled in the long-term legacy of this bloodshed. India
is surrounded by Muslim states with whom it has some very
essential business to conduct. As Gandhi never tired of
saying, the legacy of bloodshed destroys the spirit of
cooperation needed for development.
The writer is consultant analyst of energy geopolitics
based in Washington DC. Email: zeenia.satti@post.harvard.edu
India & South
Asia’s future
Bangladesh to the east is still struggling to stand on its
feet although it has made some progress since the return
of democratic rule. It now has the second highest rate of
GDP growth in the South Asian mainland after India.
Shahid Javed Burki
India’s
GDP increased at almost nine per cent a year before
slowing down when the world went into the recession in
2008-09. It has picked up again with Finance Minister
Pranab Mukherjee promising in his 2010-11 budget speech an
annual 10 per cent increase in GDP to be achieved in a
couple of years.
While India is rising, it will find it difficult to
achieve the coveted status of an economic superpower. This
is for at least two reasons. One it has not found a way
for the relative prosperity achieved by a quarter of the
population to reach the remaining three-fourths. As Joseph
Stiglitz writes in his most recent book on globalisation
India is indeed shining "on the lives of some 250 million
people [but] for the other 800 million people of India,
the economy has not shone brightly at all."
The other reason why India has been held back from
achieving its ambition is that it is an island of relative
stability in a highly restive part of the world. There is
an on-going conflict in Pakistan involving the rise of
Islamic extremists who are challenging the writ of the
state. Thousands of people have perished in the conflict
to which there is no end in sight. This conflict has been
seen by some as posing an existential threat to the
country.
The militants and terrorists operating from within
Pakistan are not only endangering the survival of the
Pakistani state. They have also extended their operations
beyond the country's borders as evidenced by the Mumbai
attacks in November 2008. More recently, an American
citizen of Pakistani descent attempted to set off a car
bomb in New York City's Times Square.
The future of Afghanistan, not strictly an Indian
neighbour, remains highly uncertain especially given the
fact that US wants to begin withdrawing its troops from
that country beginning next year. Nepal to India's
immediate north, remains unsettled and in considerable
turmoil.
The powerful Maoists who earlier showed some willingness
to work with the established groups to stabilise the
country called a strike some weeks ago, paralysing the
capital Kathmandu. As Manjushree Thapa, a Nepalese, wrote
in an article published in May 2010, "we Nepalese are
still baffled about how to be part of the modern world ...
For this we are still … waiting."
Bangladesh to the east is still struggling to stand on its
feet although it has made some progress since the return
of democratic rule. It now has the second highest rate of
GDP growth in the South Asian mainland after India.
Then there is Sri Lanka to the south, not strictly a part
of the South Asian mainland but the narrow body of water
that separates it from India is not wide enough for it not
to cast a shadow on its neighbour.
Although the military was able to put down the
long-enduring Tamil insurgency, discontent among the
members of this large minority remains. That the Tamils
are a large community in India complicates matters. What
complicates issues further is the country's drift towards
authoritarian rule.
It is only with the little kingdom of Bhutan where the
monarch has willingly surrendered most of his royal powers
that India has a stable country on its borders.
Even India has had to deal with armed rebels in its midst,
whose ranks are being swollen by the discontent occasioned
by growing inequality. Known as the Naxalite-Maoists, this
challenge to the Indian state was first thrown in the
eastern village of Naxalbari. The areas in which
insurgents draw their support are sometimes referred to as
the 'red corridor'. In 2006 Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
called the group's activities "the single biggest
challenge ever faced by our country". Two years later the
prime minister said the country was "losing the battle
against Maoist rebels."
India has enough military strength to first contain and
then overcome the challenges it faces at home. Its
leadership recognises that a high rate of economic growth,
which the country has demonstrated the ability to achieve,
will not trickle down fast enough to handle growing
discontent inside its borders and among its own people.
The government is committed to helping the lagging rural
sector. It was worried enough about creating new jobs for
new entrants to the work force to launch an employment
guarantee scheme for rural areas. It is the external
challenges emanating from its immediate neighbourhood that
need to receive the attention of policymakers in New
Delhi. India must lead the regional integration effort
rather than be the perpetual laggard.
What then are the options available to India, by far the
largest country in South Asia by virtue of the size of its
population and that of its economy, to achieve the status
of an economic superpower? This question has several
answers.
The most obvious one is to working towards bringing
stability to its neighbourhood.
It should not be tempted to go it alone since it will be
continuously distracted by instability and uncertainty all
around its borders. But to deal with its neighbours, India
will need to cast off part of its old approach and work
towards a new strategy aimed at producing a working
economic entity in South Asia to which it and its many
neighbours are fully committed.
A move in that direction is not taking place. The most
important initiative in this respect is the South Asian
Association for Regional Cooperation, Saarc, created a
quarter of a century ago. As shown by the Bhutan summit of
April 2010, there was much greater attention given to the
meeting between the prime ministers of India and Pakistan
on the sidelines of the summit than to the work of the
summit itself.
Viewpoints
American arrogance
Their
arrogance was buried in the jungles of South Vietnam, until it
was resurrected 26 years later.
Javed Hussain
The
marines had come with the belief that the 'racially inferior
gooks' would not stand up to America's military forces and
that they would be home in time for Christmas. The American
arrogance had percolated through their military's rank and
file. They soon discovered that their belief was entirely
misplaced.
The Vietnamese fighters not only stood up to them, but also
turned them into psychopaths. Ten years later, when they could
take it no more, the Americans withdrew in panic defeated,
disgraced and traumatised. During the war they dropped 7.8
million tons of bombs of all kinds against 2.06 million tons
dropped in the Second World War, and sprayed 75 million litres
of defoliants including Dioxin over the fields, forests and
villages of Vietnam, causing seven million casualties
including three million dead, for the loss of 58,000 American
servicemen. Their arrogance was buried in the jungles of South
Vietnam, until it was resurrected 26 years later.
History is now repeating itself in Afghanistan because the
Americans repeated the mistake made by the Soviets. They are
being made to pay for their folly of overestimating themselves
and underestimating the skill and fortitude of the Afghan
guerillas. Nine years on they have learned that it is far more
difficult to withdraw than it was to go in. As a consequence,
they have put in place a new strategy which seeks to create an
environment that would allow them to commence the process of
withdrawing the International Security Assistance Force (Isaf)
from Afghanistan in July 2011.
To create this environment they would apply such force on the
Taliban as would compel them to sue for peace, while at the
same time enticing the Taliban rank and file into desertion;
then negotiate from a position of strength, transfer security
responsibilities to the Afghan army, and commence the
withdrawal process. If the strategy succeeds President Obama
would be hailed as the victor in Afghanistan and his party
would not only sweep the November elections to the Congress,
but also the presidential elections in 2012. But if it fails,
their arrogance would once again be buried, this time in the
valley of death that south Afghanistan is for invaders.
Why was the need felt for a new strategy? In a war against
insurgency unless the mission is accomplished within a year,
the war tends to drag on for years on end. In the event, the
soldiers who are basically groomed for conventional war lose
their combat effectiveness, having to fight an invisible enemy
who is here, there and everywhere, yet nowhere. The guerillas
have no such compulsion as time is always on their side.
Therefore, they do everything to prolong the war in order to
not only cultivate more recruits, build their inventory of
weapons, ammunition and explosives, put in place an effective
intelligence network, but also to play with the minds of the
soldiers, for once the mind is defeated, the war is won.
Therefore, it follows that if a half-hearted effort is applied
against insurgency, it is bound to fail.
The first mistake made by the Americans was to defy history.
But having chosen to do so they should have assigned the
resources needed to accomplish the mission. Thus, their main
effort should have been in Afghanistan, not Iraq. Their second
mistake was to initiate the air-bombing campaign without
securing the crossing sites on their side of the Durand Line
to prevent the Taliban and Al Qaeda operatives from escaping
to the tribal areas of Pakistan - they thought that the
Taliban would give battle in which they would be wiped out.
But the Taliban were wiser. Even today, despite the deployment
of substantial Pakistani effort along the Durand Line, a
complementary effort by the Isaf is missing on their side of
the Line. Their third mistake was not to end the Taliban
domination of the mountains in which they have their safe
havens.
Yet instead of taking corrective action they persisted with
the mismatch between the mission assigned and resources given.
Consequently they suffered operational setbacks and blamed
Pakistan for them. The additional US forces sanctioned are
still not enough to accomplish the mission. However the least
that can be done is to employ the available forces judiciously
- one, for blocking at least those crossing sites which are
used by the Haqqani group to make forays into Afghanistan from
North Waziristan, and two, for ending the domination of the
mountains by the Taliban.
But they are fixated on Kandahar and North Waziristan. They
want the Pakistan Army to take control of North Waziristan
before the start of the Isaf operation against Kandahar
planned for August 2010, even if that involves uncovering the
eastern front which they mistakenly believe India would not
exploit. The Pakistan Army formations presently engaged in
holding the captured areas in Swat and Fata cannot be pulled
out for an operation against North Waziristan, for doing so
would create a weakness in these areas which the TTP would be
quick to exploit. Therefore a new force would have to be
assembled by denuding the eastern front even more, a situation
that should not be acceptable to the high command. Instead,
apart from their ongoing commitments in Fata, they should plan
on eliminating the religious militant groups who are capable
of orchestrating strikes beyond the borders of Pakistan.
Hillary Clinton's outburst is reminiscent of the arrogant
'stone age' call after 9/11. On reflection she just might have
discovered that Pakistan has lost more soldiers than the
combined losses suffered by foreign forces in Iraq and
Afghanistan, and five times more civilians than those lost in
the 9/11 strikes, which eminently reflect on Pakistan's
commitment to the war on terror.
What 'serious consequences' is she threatening with? Choking
the country economically, drone attacks across the country,
invasion of Fata, seizure of nuclear storage sites by special
operations forces or an air blitz against these sites and
allied facilities, perhaps even carrying out the 'stone age'
threat?
Instead of living in mortal fear, the Americans should shed
the paranoia that has gripped them and the arrogance that
characterises their conduct with weaker states, and show some
grace, serenity of mind and understanding and receptiveness to
Pakistan's concerns and constraints. Their uncalled for
outbursts against a 'partner' would only serve to alienate the
Pakistani people even more.
The writer is a retired brigadier of the Pakistan Army.
Good morning,
and good luck
Politics is
about timing and Brown, too long in Tony Blair's shadow,
missed his moment. History will record - an onerous legacy
- that he led the country but never had its people's
mandate.
Roger Cohen
Good
sense has prevailed, the winners have taken office, and
there's a bit of rainbow-nation buoyancy to Britain that
seems impervious, for now, to Greek hangovers. Let's face
it: After a season of furrowed brows youth is a tonic.
At 43, David Cameron and Nick Clegg have that. They're new
in every sense, at the head of the first coalition
government since Churchill called Britain to arms seven
decades ago. Today, the blitz is economic. The one clear
message written into the election's inconclusive numbers
was that Britain demanded change. Collapsing banks,
expense scandals, a fierce recession and spiraling
personal debt have angered people. It was not that Gordon
Brown was a bad guy; he was just a tired guy at the head
of a weary Labour Party and a man with a tragic streak.
Politics is about timing and Brown, too long in Tony
Blair's shadow, missed his moment. History will record -
an onerous legacy - that he led the country but never had
its people's mandate.
"Thank you and goodbye," he said at the end of a gracious
valedictory speech that could not quite hide the
bitterness in that terse finale. It was not quite Edward
R. Murrow's "Good night, and good luck," but almost.
What now? I think Cameron was right to follow Obama and
weave the word "responsibility" into his every
post-electoral statement. Like Obama in 2009, he's taking
over a battered, baffled nation. After seeing the tab for
the past decade, learning of Icelandic illusions and
digesting just how crazy the City's antics and their own
representatives' spending had become, the British are
ready for a dose of transparency and accountability. At
least they ?think they are.
The rapid coalition-building was certainly an exercise in
responsibility. It can't have been easy for Clegg - with
his strong European bent, Spanish wife and sons named
Antonio, Alberto and Miguel - to agree to wording
freighted with visceral Tory suspicion of the European
Union, a body full of funny names to which "there should
be no further transfer of sovereignty or powers over the
course of the next Parliament." It can't have been easy,
either, for Cameron to accept a referendum on electoral
reform that could hurt his Conservative party; tax breaks
for low-income earners rather than his wealthy classmates;
and an awkward compromise on nuclear power that reflects
the lentils-and-sandals, touchy-feely streak among Clegg's
Liberal Democrats, a party long free to dream because it
did not have to govern.
Still, they got to agreement fast, with the best part
devoted to civil liberties - scrapping Labour's ID card
scheme and promising to rein in the rampant camera
surveillance that threatens to put Britain back in the
USSR.
Now each leader has to deliver or succumb to the
inevitable jibes, from the right in the case of Cameron,
the left in the case of Clegg. Effectiveness can be their
only answer to charges of opportunism and selling out.
That should focus minds.
I like the balance in the cabinet, particularly the
presence of the blunt Liberal Democrat Vince Cable
overseeing business and banks. Youth is good, but Cable,
two decades older than Clegg and Cameron, brings a dose of
hard-nosed wisdom. It was he who, seven years ago, asked
Brown if "consumer spending pinned against record levels
of personal debt," was not a recipe for economic disaster
- and was ignored.Cable and the Tory Chancellor of the
Exchequer, George Osborne, face an enormous challenge.
The agreement commits the coalition to an emergency
deficit-reducing budget within 50 days even as it
acknowledges the fragility of economic recovery: That's a
tough balancing act. It also calls for "robust action to
tackle unacceptable bonuses in the financial services
sector," and raises the possibility of separating retail
and investment banking - measures the City will resist,
and Britain depends more than America on its huge
?financial sector.
Britain's numbers don't look a whole lot better than
Greece's, with the budget deficit at 11.5 per cent of
national output, compared to 13.6 per cent in Athens. But
Britain has more flexibility, being outside the euro, and
has already allowed sterling to depreciate sharply to
regain competitiveness. Its debt maturities are also
longer. And, well, the United Kingdom is not Greece.
Still, Cameron and Clegg are going to have to steer the
country through very rough times. Europe, like it or not,
is where Britain sits, as Churchill knew. Britain will not
be immune to the south European blues. At home, interest
rates will rise and the end to the current mortgage
holiday for millions will cause anger.
But government is not just about numbers. When he took
office 13 years ago, Blair lifted Britain from its
navel-gazing. Cameron has the same energetic gifts, is a
better listener and more instinctive seeker of middle
ground. In a best case, he and Clegg will complement each
other. Europe can't afford a Britain of Tory prejudice.
The world can't afford a Britain of Liberal Democratic
wobbliness. So, here's to renewal in the spirit of the
Downing Street fertility clinic, preparing to usher
another Cameron into the unpredictable ?British fray.
Roger Cohen is Editor at Large of the International
Herald Tribune
New Iran nuclear deal is a good start
Breakthroughs in the Middle East come in small portions
and rarely as wholesale achievements.
Osama Al Sharif
Breakthroughs
in the Middle East come in small portions and rarely as
wholesale achievements.
This is how observers should read Monday's historic deal
between Iran, Brazil and Turkey under which Tehran has
accepted to ship 1,200 kg of low-enriched uranium to
Turkey in exchange for higher-enriched nuclear fuel that
it desperately needs to power its medical research
reactor. But the West's response has been less than
welcoming, raising doubts again about the prospects of
resolving Iran's tussle with the US and others
diplomatically and peacefully.
But Brazil and Turkey, whose leaders flew to Tehran to
convince the Iranians of the merits of adopting such a
deal, have made an important breakthrough in the current
standoff. The deal does not differ much from a previous
UN-backed proposal to ship Iran's nuclear fuel to Russia
and France in return for high-grade fuel, enriched to 20
percent, within a year. That offer, made in October,
collapsed when the Iranians backed down.
But the threat of more UN sanctions, diplomatic isolation
and even war, have convinced President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,
and the country's supreme spiritual leader, that the
Turkey-Brazil proposal was an acceptable compromise. While
it does not resolve all issues related to Iran's nuclear
program, it certainly is a big step forward.
But first, Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA) need to agree that the Turkish-Brazil deal is
valid. The coming few days will decide if the West can
live with this development or not. The IAEA will come
under pressure, primarily from the US and other countries
like France and Germany. But the fact that a positive move
has been made by Iran should be taken seriously at this
delicate stage of the conflict.
Critics of the deal, including Israel, believe Iran is
only buying time and hoping to deflate efforts to impose
new UN sanctions. Both Turkey and Brazil are members of
the current session of the Security Council, and now that
they have secured a deal with Iran they would feel
obligated to defend it and oppose new sanctions. The deal
may also sway the position of other members like China and
even Russia. Iran has already made contacts with other
non-permanent members such as Uganda and Bosnia to block
the US-led drive for new sanctions.
But aside from the obvious Iranian gains, the region, and
indeed the world, may also benefit from a new agreement.
Iran has proven that it will not be bossed around by the
US or others, the so called P5-Plus-1 (the five permanent
Security Council members plus Germany). It has also
declared, through Ahmadinejad, that it does not fear UN
penalties and that the Islamic Republic has been living
under sanctions since the revolution in 1979.
In addition to all this, Iran is not just any country in
the region. It has considerable influence over many issues
and partners, such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Hamas and
Hezbollah. Drawing Iran back to the negotiations table may
prove helpful not only in defusing the crisis over its
nuclear program, but in working out solutions to other
problems as well. Ignoring this fact for so long has only
complicated matters and the current crisis in Iraq is but
an example.
The success of Turkey and Brazil, both of which have
strong ties with Iran, in reaching a deal signals
something else that has been missing in the previous
rounds of negotiations; trust. Mutual distrust has
characterized Iran's relationship with the West for a long
time. And for each accusation or finger-pointing coming
from the US or its allies, Iran could easily respond with
its own list of charges.
There is a dire need to build on the latest agreement even
if the US is not completely satisfied with its terms. A
fresh round of sanctions will only alienate the Iranian
leadership and give hard-liners excuses to close the door
on further negotiations. On the other hand, resuming
dialogue with the Iranians will yield results, especially
if friendlier countries, such as Turkey and Brazil, take
the lead.
Regardless of the final outcome it seems that Turkey's
strategy of containing regional crises is working well.
This is a triumph for Ankara whose role in the Middle East
is becoming essential and substantial. The same cannot be
said of Arab states whose influence in their own backyard
is receding dangerously. This has been demonstrated in
Iraq's case, with Iran's feud with the West and now we see
the same happening in Palestine and even with Egypt that
is facing a crucial test with its southern neighbors over
Nile water-sharing rights.
Political breakthroughs are rare in this part of the
world, but their existence, even at a modest level, is
always good news for the people of a region that has lived
through wars and uncertainty and is always at their mercy!
Osama Al Sharif is a veteran journalist and political
commentator based in Jordan.
International
Musharraf’s PM
hopes a distant dream?
IANS, Islamabad
That former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf is eyeing
the prime minister's post is not surprising considering
that the sweeping powers he had taken away from the office
have now returned to where they belonged.
At the same time, it is early days yet for the mid-term
elections he is hoping for and through which he hopes to
ride to power, analysts here say. Before all this, the
basic question analysts say the Pakistani government will
have to answer is: Will it guarantee Musharraf's safety if
he returns home from the year-long lecture tour of the US
and Europe that he has been on?
Given the tremendous pressure that compelled Musharraf to
step down first as army chief in December 2007 and then as
president in August 2008, the government would be wary of
doing so and, without his security guaranteed, Musharraf
would be extremely loathe to return.
Musharraf, in an interview to CNN Thursday, said he plans
to return home to re-enter politics and indicated he wants
to be the prime minister. Musharraf initially declined to
say whether he was eyeing a particular office, telling
CNN's Wolf Blitzer: 'The question... of whether I am
running for president or prime minister will be seen
later.' But his subsequent remarks clearly implied he
wants to be the prime minister.
'We run a parliamentary system there' Musharraf said,
adding: 'So you have to-your party has to win in the
election. Then only do you decide to run.' 'Basically, you
are heading the party, you are running for the prime
ministership,' he declared.
'Because in Pakistan, the chief executive is the prime
minister, not the president,' he added.
US not pushing
Pakistan to launch offensive
Dawn Online,
Washington
Two senior US officials - Defence Secretary Robert Gates
and Admiral Mike Mullen - said on Thursday that the United
States was not pushing Pakistan to launch a military
offensive in North Waziristan.
At a briefing at the Pentagon, both Mr Gates and Mr Mullen
indicated that this week's talks between President Asif
Ali Zardari and visiting US National Security Advisor
James Jones and CIA chief Leon Panetta in Islamabad
focussed on the overall strategy for combating terrorism
and not any particular operation. Prime Minister Yousuf
Raza Gilani, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and
Army Chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani also attended that
meeting.
"The main theme of these talks was … how we can intensify
our cooperation in dealing with this mutual threat that we
face," said Mr Gates.
"My impression has been that there has been close
cooperation since the (Times Square) bomber was arrested.
So I think it's more about that than any qualitative
change." Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mullen
said he had discussed the North Waziristan operation with
Gen Kayani "well over a year ago" who had indicated that
he planned to execute the mission.
"But very specifically, the timeline's really up to him.
And it goes back to what I understand and believe, that
he's stretched," the admiral said.
"He's got two fronts. He's got a military that's lost a
lot of soldiers, sacrificed a great deal, and so that it
makes a lot of sense to me that he does get to pick this
timeline."
Remarks on COAS tenure uncalled for,
says Gilani
Dawn Online, Islamabad
Contrary to the impression created by the recent remarks
of Defence Minister Ahmed Mukhtar on the army chief's
tenure of service, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani
suggested on Thursday that possible extension in service
was not a settled issue, and would be decided at the
appropriate time.
In fact, he expressed displeasure over Mr Mukhtar's
comments in which the minister was quoted as having said
that neither the army chief has asked for an extension in
service nor was it being given.
"His remarks were uncalled for," Premier Gilani said
during a meeting with a group of journalists in Islamabad.
"He is not supposed to say such things, and he shouldn't
have said what he said." The premier then went a step
further to declare that this issue was yet to be taken up
and, according to him, it will be decided at the right
time.
Though he refrained from dropping any hint if he was even
considering giving Gen Kayani extension, he said when the
time came he would see if there was a precedence, as well
as other aspects of the issue.
The issue of possible extension in service to the army
chief has remained a matter of discussion in a section of
the media, with some suggesting it was important for the
continuation of operation against religious militants, and
a few others insisting that being a professional soldier
and man of principle the army chief may not even desire an
extension in service.
Gen Kayani is to complete his tenure as the COAS in
November this year. A couple of months before his
retirement, General Tariq Majeed, Chairman Joint Chiefs of
Staff Committee, is also to retire, and as a result of the
18th Amendment, the decision to appoint the two top
commanders will be taken on the advice of the premier.
Hillary condemns N.Korea at
start of Asia tour
AFP, Tokyo
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her Japanese
counterpart condemned North Korea Friday, a day after a
multinational panel blamed it for a deadly torpedo attack
on a South Korean warship.
In their joint stance against the nuclear-armed communist
regime, both sides stressed the importance of their
half-century alliance, which has been badly strained in
recent months by a dispute over an unpopular US military
base.
Clinton, kicking off a week-long Asia tour, called the
partnership the "cornerstone" of regional stability, as
she sent a stern message to Pyongyang on the issue
expected to dominate her talks later in Beijing and Seoul.
"We agreed that North Korea must stop its provocative
behaviour, halt its policy of threats and belligerence
towards its neighbours, and take irreversible steps to
fulfil its denuclearisation commitments, and comply with
international law," she said after meeting Foreign
Minister Katsuya Okada.
"We cannot allow this attack to go unanswered by the
international community," she said, adding that on the
Beijing leg of her trip from Monday she looked forward to
"intensive consultations in China."
The multinational team on Thursday blamed North Korea for
sinking the South Korean corvette with a torpedo in March,
claiming 46 lives-prompting an angry denial from Pyongyang
and a threat of war if it is punished.
Other world powers, including Britain and France, have
also strongly condemned the reclusive regime and are
expected to back any push for fresh sanctions against
Pyongyang at the UN Security Council.
China-one of the five veto-wielding permanent members-has
so far called for more evidence and urged calm, suggesting
it will not jump to punish its communist neighbour, whose
leader recently visited the country.
US warns of terror link to
Pakistan catering firm
AP, Islamabad
The U.S. Embassy warned Friday that terrorist groups may
have "established links" to a high-class catering company
in Pakistan that a security official said is owned by a
suspect arrested over the failed car bombing in Times
Square.
In an unusual e-mail message to Americans in Pakistan, the
embassy said U.S. government personnel had been instructed
to avoid using the Hanif Rajput Catering Service, a
well-known firm that has been used by the American embassy
and other foreign missions in the capital.
The embassy said the suspicions about the catering company
have been shared with Pakistan government agencies.
The message said Rajput was owned Rana Ashraf Khan and his
son Salman Ashraf.
Earlier this week, a senior security official said that
one of at least two people arrested in Pakistan over links
to a Pakistani-American detained in connection with the
failed Times Square car bombing was called Salman Ashraf.
He identified him as the son of the owner of Rajput
catering service.
The official said the second suspect was called Ahmed Raza,
who was a cousin of Salman. He said both men were
suspected of having financial links with the primary
suspect in the case, Faisal Shahzad. The
Pakistani-American was arrested May 3 at John F. Kennedy
International Airport while heading to Dubai two days
after the botched bombing.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of
the sensitive nature of the investigation.
A man who answered the phone at Rajput declined to comment
on the allegations made by the U.S. embassy.
A biography on the Rajput website said Salman Ashraf Khan
studied in Houston, Texas, before returning home to help
run the family business. It said Rana Ashraf Khan worked
for Pakistan International Airlines for 20 years and then
started the catering firm.
Rajput cooks for large parties, providing food, cutlery
and grand tents at embassy compounds and the homes of the
well-to-do in Islamabad and other cities.
A divisive figure, Thaksin
looms over Thai unrest
Reuters, Bangkok
To the rural masses at the heart of Thailand's "red shirt"
protest movement, he is a mould-breaking prime minister,
the first leader to pay attention to the needs of millions
living beyond Bangkok's bright lights.
To the Thai government, the urban middle class and the
royalist elite, Thaksin Shinawatra is a terrorist and a
crony capitalist who plundered the economy while in power
from 2001 until a 2006 military coup and then led a
movement that reduced parts of Bangkok to smouldering
ruins this week.
His exact role in the anti-government movement is murky
although both sides agree he remains one of Thailand's
most divisive and influential figures at a time when
long-dormant fissures in Thai society are flaring
dangerously into the open.
The question facing Thailand is whether Thaksin's chances
of returning to power are now as battered as the city
itself after nearly 10 weeks of protests that ended with
the worst night of rioting and arson in modern Thai
history.
"This is the man who will never give up," said Pavin
Chachavalpongpun, fellow at the Institute of Southeast
Asian Studies. "Many red-shirted protesters who have
returned home will continue to look up to him as saviour
of the poor.
"The heavy-handed measures adopted by the government have
effectively deepened the already divisive society. Thaksin
is here to further deepen it. The game of political
retaliation is not yet over," he added.
Japan,
US stress tight ties despite airbase feud
Reuters, Tokyo
Japan and the United States played down on Friday a feud
over a U.S. airbase which has frayed two-way ties, saying
the alliance was more vital than ever given regional
threats such as an unpredictable North Korea.
A row over the U.S. Marines' Futenma airbase on Japan's
southern Okinawa island has distracted the allies as they
try to cope with changing regional dynamics including a
rising China.
Japanese voter perception that Prime Minister Yukio
Hatoyama has mishandled the row is eroding support before
a midyear election his party needs to win to avoid policy
paralysis, and has even sparked speculation he may resign.
Calling the 50-year-old alliance "rock solid", U.S.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the two allies
were working together to resolve the dispute.
"This partnership is essential for meeting the challenges
not only of today but also of tomorrow," she told a joint
news conference with Japan's foreign minister during a
brief visit before heading for China and then Seoul, where
Pyongyang's sinking of a South Korean navy ship will top
the agenda.
"It is good to be reminded, as we recently were with the
unprovoked attack on the Korean vessel, that there are
still dangers and challenges that confront us together,"
she told the news conference, where she strongly condemned
Pyongyang's action and called for an international
response.
U.N.'s
Ban hopes Iran deal may bring atom settlement
Reuters, Istanbul
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Friday he hoped
Iran's deal to send some of its enriched uranium abroad
may open the door to a negotiated settlement in a row with
the West over its nuclear programme.
In a speech delivered in Istanbul, Ban said the deal Iran
reached on Monday with Turkey and Brazil, both
non-permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, was
"an important initiative in resolving international
tensions over Iran's nuclear programme by peaceful means.
"I have mentioned Turkey's welcome role with respect to
Iran, working with Brazil. We hope that this and other
initiatives may open the door to a negotiated settlement,"
Ban said.
But he said the International Atomic Energy Agency, which
brokered the basis of the deal last October only to see it
unravel when Iran raised a raft of objections, would
provide its own professional assessment.
The United States handed the U.N. Security Council a draft
resolution on Tuesday that would expand U.N. sanctions,
hitting Iran's banking and other industries over Iran's
protracted refusal to suspend uranium enrichment.
Iran dismissed the draft resolution as lacking legitimacy
but U.S. President Barack Obama has insisted Washington
would press ahead and that Tehran could not be trusted.
The Islamic Republic denies Western suspicions that its
secretive atomic energy programme is aimed at developing
nuclear weapons capability and has said it will continue
enriching uranium for fuel for electricity generation.
U.S., Egypt strive
for Mideast nuclear arms ban deal
Reuters, United
Nations
The United States and Egypt are working to bridge
differences on a proposed Middle East nuclear arms ban, an
idea that could one day force Israel to scrap any atom
bombs it has, U.N. diplomats say.
The U.S. efforts to secure a deal with Egypt and other
Arab countries reflect Washington's concern to win their
backing for sanctions against Iran over its nuclear
programme by offering a concession over U.S. ally Israel,
even though Washington says such a ban is impossible
without peace in the Middle East.
Western diplomats say that the success or failure of a
month-long meeting on the 1970 nuclear Non-Proliferation
Treaty (NPT) currently under way in New York hinges on the
sensitive negotiations on an Egyptian proposal to hold a
conference on establishing a zone free of nuclear arms in
the Middle East. "If we can't get a deal on the Middle
East in the next few days, the NPT review conference will
probably collapse," a Western diplomat told Reuters. "It's
what happened in 2005."
Another Western diplomat familiar with the talks was
guardedly optimistic. Despite the appearance of a chasm
separating the Arabs from the United States and the four
other permanent U.N. Security Council members, "informal
conversations indicate the sides are not in reality too
far apart," he said.
Second Mid-East talks end
with no sign of progress
BBC Online
Middle East envoy George Mitchell wound up a second round
of indirect peace talks between Palestinians and Israeli
without any outward sign of progress.
A statement from the office of the Israeli PM Benjamin
Netanyahu spoke of the "possibility" of goodwill gestures
towards the Palestinians. No details were given.
The US envoy and Mr Netanyahu met for three and a half
hours on Thursday. Mr Mitchell met Palestinian leader
Mahmoud Abbas earlier in the week. The indirect, proximity
talks are set to continue for four months, and should get
to addressing some of the core issues - borders,
Jerusalem, and refugees. All parties say they hope these
will lead to direct negotiations.
Shuttle diplomacy
In the current talks Mr Mitchell shuttles between Mr
Netanyahu's office in Jerusalem and Mr Abbas' office in
Ramallah, a journey of about 10 miles (15km). Thursday's
statement from Mr Netanyahu's office said part of the
meeting with Mr Mitchell concentrated on water issues. The
US envoy met Mr Abbas on Wednesday. He was given letters
protesting against the killing of a Palestinian teenager
in the West Bank, allegedly by an Israeli settler, and the
killing of an elderly farmer in Gaza by the Israeli
military.
Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat said his side
also brought up the "the numerous Israeli provocative
statements of the last few days". Palestinian officials
have been angered by repeated statements by Israeli
officials, including the prime minister, that settlement
construction would continue in occupied East Jerusalem.
'Giving cover'
The Palestinian Islamist group, Hamas, which controls the
Gaza Strip, has criticised the talks, warning that they
"give cover to the Israeli occupation to commit more
crimes against our people".
Prophet (PBUH) cartoon in
South African paper sparks new row
DPA, Johannesburg
Days after an alleged Al Qaeda operative detailed sketchy
plans to attack the football World Cup over cartoons of
Prophet Mohammed, a newspaper in South Africa has caused
controversy by also publishing cartoons of the Prophet.
A cartoon by award-winning satirist Jonathan Shapiro in
the Mail & Guardian weekly newspaper Friday shows the
Prophet grumbling to a psychiatrist about the furore in
the Muslim world created by a Facebook page called
Everybody draw Muhammad Day.
'Other prophets have followers with a sense of humour!'
the turbaned, bearded figure, who is stretched out on the
psychiatrist's couch, complains.
Thursday evening, the Mail & Guardian won an eleventh-hour
court case taken by the Council of Muslim Theologians to
try to bar the publication of the cartoon.
The council had warned of a possible violent backlash and
said the timing was bad, given the alleged threat to the
World Cup.
'My view is no cartoon is as insulting to Islam as the
assumption Muslims will react with violence,' the
newspaper's editor Nic Dawes defended.
Friday, the paper reported it was receiving a flood of
angry calls, and had even received death threats against
the cartoonist.
A spokesman for the Media Review Network, a group that
lobbies on Muslim affairs, told Johannesburg's 702 radio
station he was 'greatly' disappointed by the ruling and
appealed for calm in the Muslim community.
Shapiro, aka Zapiro, is renowned for his provocative
images, which usually poke fun at politicians. His latest
sketch comes days after an alleged Al Qaeda operative was
arrested in Iraq on charges of terrorism, including a plot
to target the World Cup in South Africa.
New Chinese fighter jet
expected by 2018: US intel
Reuters,
Washington
China is building an advanced combat jet that may rival
within eight years Lockheed Martin Corp's F-22 Raptor, the
premier U.S. fighter, a U.S. intelligence official said.
The date cited for the expected deployment is years ahead
of previous Pentagon public forecasts and may be a sign
that China's rapid military buildup is topping many
experts' expectations.
"We're anticipating China to have a fifth-generation
fighter ... operational right around 2018," Wayne Ulman of
the National Air and Space Intelligence Center testified
on Thursday to a congressionally mandated group that
studies national security implications of U.S.-China
economic ties. "Fifth-generation" fighters feature
cutting-edge capabilities, including shapes, materials and
propulsion systems designed to make them look as small as
a swallow on enemy radar screens.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates had said last year that
China "is projected to have no fifth-generation aircraft
by 2020" and only a "handful" by 2025. He made the
comments on July 16 to the Economic Club of Chicago while
pushing Congress to cap F-22 production at 187 planes in
an effort to save billions of dollars in the next decade.
Ulman is China "issues manager" at the center that is the
U.S. military's prime intelligence producer on foreign air
and space forces, weapons and systems. He said China's
military was eyeing options for possible use of force
against Taiwan, which Beijing deems a rogue province.
The People's Liberation Army, as part of its Taiwan
planning, also is preparing to counter "expected U.S.
intervention in support of Taiwan," he told the U.S.-China
Economic and Security Review Commission.
He said the PLA's strategy included weakening U.S. air
power by striking air bases, aircraft carrier strike
groups and support elements if the U.S. stepped in.
Attacks against U.S. "basing infrastructure" in the
western Pacific would be carried out by China's air force
along with an artillery corps' conventional cruise missile
and ballistic missile forces, he said outlining what he
described as a likely scenario.
UK government clamps down on
ministers' perks
Reuters, London
Britain's new government clamped down on ministers' perks
and lobbying on Friday, trying to clean up a political
system whose reputation was tarnished by scandals over
sleaze and lawmakers' extravagant expenses.
All major parties were damaged last year when it emerged
that members of parliament had claimed on expenses for
items ranging from toilet paper to the cost of cleaning a
moat.
"Our new government has a particular and historic
responsibility: to rebuild confidence in our political
system," Prime Minister David Cameron, who heads a
Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition formed after the
May 6 election, said.
"After the scandals of recent years, people have lost
faith in politics and politicians. It is our duty to
restore their trust," he wrote in the foreword to a new,
stricter code of conduct for ministers.
The election ended 13 years of Labour rule and brought to
power Britain's first coalition government since World War
Two, made up of centre-right Conservatives and centre-left
Lib Dems.
Faith in Britain's political system was rocked under the
Labour government by scandals over abuse of parliamentary
privileges and concerns over ex-ministers working as
lobbyists for private companies.
The expenses scandal led to a public backlash and forced
scores of members to leave parliament at this month's
election.
In March, the then ruling Labour Party suspended three
former cabinet ministers after they were secretly filmed
claiming they could use their position to influence
government policy for cash.
The revised ministerial code of conduct introduces a new
restriction on lobbying, saying ministers will be barred
from lobbying government for two years after leaving
office.
US, China hope to restore
mutual trust through dialogue next week
ANI, Washington/Beijing
China and the United States will hopefully set the tone
for smoother bilateral relations with candid reflections
on past problems when officials of the two sides meet for
strategic and bilateral discussions next week.
"The significance of the dialogue is that the two
countries can enhance mutual understanding and strategic
trust, which is conducive to smooth discussions if there
are more frictions in the future," the China daily quoted
Tao Wenzhao, an expert on US studies at the Chinese
Academy of Social Sciences, as saying. An escalating
situation on the Korean Pennisula and the European debt
crisis will be among the top topics discussed at the talks
between China and the United States next week, said senior
officials from both sides.
Business/Economy
US
Senate passes historic Wall Street overhaul
AFP, Washington
In a major victory for President Barack Obama, the US
Senate has passed the most sweeping overhaul of financial
industry rules since the Great Depression of the 1930s.
By a 59-39 margin, lawmakers approved Thursday an
ambitious effort to curb Wall Street excesses blamed for
fueling the 2008 global economic meltdown, amid smoldering
voter anger months before November mid-term elections. "To
Wall Street, it says: No longer can you recklessly gamble
away other people's money," Democratic Senate Majority
Leader Harry Reid. "It says to those who game the system:
The game is over."
Senate Banking Committee chair Chris Dodd, a key author of
the legislation, said it was "a major step toward creating
a sound economic foundation for the American people we
represent. This is their victory."
The legislation, Obama's top domestic goal, must still be
merged with the House of Representatives' rival version
into a compromise measure before the final package can go
to the president to sign into law.
House Financial Services Committee chair Barney Frank, a
Democrat, told CNBC television that he foresaw smooth
sailing and that "the president, I am certain now, will
have signed this bill well before the Fourth of July."
The measure aims to rein in big firms' use of high-risk
practices blamed for the collapse of 2008, end
taxpayer-funded bailout of financial titans previously
deemed "too big to fail," and create an unprecedented
consumer protection agency to shield Americans from
industry abuses.
It also seeks to curb big banks' lucrative, largely
unregulated business in complex securities called
derivatives, essentially bets on the future cost of an
asset, which many businesses use to control risk from
volatile prices.
It includes several measures aimed at increasing the
transparency at the US Federal Reserve and the central
bank's accountability, as well as a measure aimed at
blocking International Monetary Fund aid packages like the
one for Greece without a guarantee that the money will be
repaid. A few hours before the vote, Obama pledged that
the law would not smother the market.
"The reform I sign will not stifle the power of the free
market -- it will simply bring predictable, responsible,
sensible rules into the marketplace," he said in the Rose
Garden of the White House.
"Our goal is not to punish the banks, but to protect the
larger economy and the American people from the kind of
upheavals that we've seen in the past few years," said the
president.
Obama also took aim at the financial industry, accusing it
of deploying "hordes of lobbyists and millions of dollars
in ads" to kill the bill and trying to "water it down."
"Today, I think it's fair to say that these efforts have
failed," he said.
Four Republicans joined all but two Democrats to approve
the measure, drawing praise from Reid at the end of a
month-long, sometimes bitter debate expected to stretch
into the House-Senate "conference" to build a compromise.
US Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said in a statement
that he looked forward to working with lawmakers "to
produce a sensible, prudent reform bill that strengthens
the American financial system and preserves our ability to
innovate and compete in a global economy."
The two chambers were to pick negotiating delegates on
Monday.
Some of the remaining disputes include curbs on derivative
trading and restrictions on investment activities by
deposit-holding banks.
Senate Agriculture Committee chair Blanche Lincoln, a
Democrat, authored a measure in the bill aimed at ending
the largely unregulated derivatives business, a step
forcefully opposed by big banks and their lobbyists trying
to shape the legislation.
Dodd introduced and then pulled back from but did not
withdraw a measure gutting Lincoln's proposal.
Sonali
Bank engages maximum efforts for economic developments
BSS, Rangpur
Officials of the Sonali Bank Limited (SBL) have said that
the bank has put its maximum efforts to increase
investments for industrialization, trade, business and
commerce for the country's overall socio- economic
developments.
The bank has taken up massive programmes towards the
directions for playing vital roles with a view to
eradicate poverty once for all from the economically
backyard northern region and building a developed digital
Bangladesh, they said.
They said this at a clients' rally attended by officials
of the SBL, representatives of the business organisations,
chamber and businessmen community leaders and common
clients at its Rangpur Corporate Branch auditorium in the
city Thursday afternoon.
Assistant General Manager of Rangpur Corporate Branch of
the SBL Anjan Kumar Bose chaired the rally that was
attended by President of Rangpur Chamber of Commerce and
Industry (RCCI) Alhaj ATM Shahnewaz Bablu as the chief
guest.
Deputy General Manager (DGM) of Rangpur Principal Office
of SBL Begum Shahana Mashrur was present as the special
guest while DGM of Rangpur General Managers' Office of SBL
Mahbubur Rahman delivered the welcome speech.
The speakers discussed aspects for increasing investments
in various prospective sectors for accelerating economic
developments of the northern region through expanding
commerce, trade and business and industrializations in s
shorter period.
The senior SBL bankers also urged the bank officials at
all levels for working with utmost sincerity, dedication
and improved services to the clients for boosting economic
activities and developments in building a poverty- free
and developed Bangladesh.
They also called upon the officials and employees of the
SBL for more efficient management and disbursement of the
agri-loans and SME loans for quickening the development
process.
EU seeks ways out of debt crisis
AFP, Brussels
European ministers headed for landmark talks on curbing
overspending Friday amid global turmoil over the eurozone
debt crisis and signs of damage to economic recovery.
One uncertainty was removed when the German lower house of
parliament, the Bundestag, gave its approval to the
massive one trillion-dollar (750-billion-euro) EU-IMF debt
safety net for EU countries 13 days ago.
Insisting that German approval was vital for market
stability, Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told
lawmakers this was because "markets trust it only once it
has actually been implemented."
German Chancellor Angela Merkel this week stressed the
urgency of the situation on sceptical Germans, saying that
the euro was "in danger" and of "incalculable
consequences" if it were to fail. But analysts say
perceptions of disagreement within the eurozone, denied by
France, are spreading aversion to risk globally and
undermining confidence.
Stocks in Europe remained weak after an overnight fall of
3.6 percent on Wall Street and big falls in Asia-Tokyo
dived 2.45 percent to its lowest level since December 2.
European stocks fell by 1.0-1.5 percent on Friday.
The euro edged up from a four-year low point but the yen
surged as a side effect of widespread risk aversion,
causing the Japanese central bank to intervene heavily.
The US Senate approved landmark financial sector reforms
on Thursday, but the IMF said that anxious attention was
now focused on Europe.
Global equities extend vicious slump as investors
panic
AFP, London
Global stock markets slumped further on Friday as
investors panicked over eurozone debt fears, surprisingly
bad US jobless data and the prospect of Wall Street
reforms, dealers said.
The biggest drop in more than a year in New York on
Thursday triggered fresh turmoil in Asia and Europe amid
mounting anxiety about the global economic outlook.
London shares sank by more than 2.0 percent, with the FTSE
100 index of leading companies dropping underneath the
psychological barrier of 5,000 points to hit lows last
seen in early October 2009.
"Panic seems to be taking over as traders dump stocks and
push the FTSE through the 5,000-point level," said ETX
Capital trader Manoj Ladwa. "Sentiment has turned
extremely bearish (negative) as any rallies are now being
used as an opportunity to sell." Elsewhere, Frankfurt
dived more than 2.0 percent and Paris fell 1.55 percent in
volatile afternoon trade as investors shunned assets that
are regarded as increasingly risky.
"European markets continued to suffer on Friday as
investors sold out of banking stocks and fled risky asset
classes," said City Index analyst Joshua Raymond. "There
are two key issues that investors have become increasingly
sensitive about-how wider EU sovereign debt could impact
economic growth for several years, and the potential for
stricter financial regulation," Raymond said. "It is these
issues that have taken even more of a knock in confidence
this week and have had investors running for the hills."
In Asia on Friday, Tokyo tumbled 2.45 percent to finish at
its lowest level since December 2 after Wall Street
slumped 3.60 percent on Thursday after weak economic data
compounded European debt concerns.
"Poor jobs data in the US poured further misery on markets
already running for the exit doors, chased by Europe's
sovereign debt debacle and China's credit curbs," said PVM
analyst David Hufton.
"Recovery in the US may be faltering, Europe is in
meltdown and China is tightening the reins on an economy
that has been bolting," Hufton said.
"It is a triple whammy that makes a fool of the optimism
that enveloped the markets only a few weeks ago. "To hear,
on top of everything else, that US new jobless claims had
their biggest jump in three months last week was a kick in
the groin to a market already falling to the ground."
In foreign exchange deals on Friday, the European single
currency rose to 1.2533 dollars, up from 1.2482 in New
York late Thursday and holding above the four-year low
that was touched earlier this week.
Official data showed Thursday that initial US jobless
claims totalled 471,000 in the week ending May 15, up a
sharp 5.6 percent from the prior week against forecasts
for a modest drop.
Singapore
Airlines says Q4 net profit up over six-fold
AFP, Singapore
Singapore Airlines (SIA), a bellwether for the aviation
industry, said Friday its fourth quarter net profit soared
more than six-fold as the global economic rebound boosted
travel and cargo demand.
Net profit in the three months to March was 278 million
Singapore dollars (197.53 million US), up from 42 million
dollars in the same quarter the year before, the company
said in a statement.
Together with the 404-million-dollar net profit in the
third quarter, the fourth quarter earnings reversed 466
million dollars in losses recorded in the financial first
half. Fourth quarter revenue was 3.34 billion dollars,
little changed from 3.32 billion dollars the year before,
said SIA, one of the world's most respected airlines whose
earnings are closely monitored by the travel, financial
and aerospace sectors.
The company had been hit by a fall in travel and cargo
demand resulting from a financial crisis and the global
economic slump that started in 2008 and lasted well into
2009.
German lower house approves euro rescue package
AFP, Berlin
Germany's lower house of parliament approved the country's
share of a trillion-dollar rescue package for debt-hit
eurozone nations Friday, after Chancellor Angela Merkel
warned the euro was "in danger".
Merkel's centre-right majority handily assured passage of
the bill to unblock up to about 150 billion euros (187
billion dollars) of the around 750 billion euros in loan
guarantees.
The Bundesrat upper house was expected to give its green
light to the so-called "shock and awe" package, cobbled
together by the European Union and International Monetary
Fund, in the early afternoon. The crunch vote in Europe's
top economy comes as a new EU economic task force was to
hold its first meeting in Brussels to bolster economic and
budgetary oversight among member states to head off
similar turmoil in future.
The Brussels meeting of European finance ministers will be
presided over by EU president Herman Van Rompuy and comes
amid financial market doubts about Europe's unity in the
face of the fiscal crisis. German was approving the rescue
package two weeks after a 110-billion-euro bail-out deal
for debt-wracked Greece, which was hugely unpopular and
contributed to a crushing setback for Merkel this month in
a key state poll.
Thailand faces economic fallout from flames and
turmoil
AFP, Bangkok
Thailand on Friday counted the cost of months of protests
that descended into scenes of anarchy in the capital,
damaging the nation's economy and reputation and leaving
parts of Bangkok in ruins. A crackdown on the "Red Shirts"
rally base, which had already paralysed the city's main
shopping district for six weeks, triggered mayhem when
militants went on a spree of looting and arson that left
36 major buildings ablaze.
With the nation's largest shopping mall in ruins and
partly collapsed, the stock exchange closed after being
torched, and all bank branches in the capital shuttered,
the kingdom faces months of rebuilding and a heavy
financial toll.
Experts said the wider economic impact is likely to be
long and deep, after images of Bangkok burning were
flashed around the world, spooking investors and visitors
who have flocked to the "Land of Smiles." "The latest
political stand-off and the situation in Thailand has
definitely shattered confidence in the country," said
Nandor von der Luehe, chairman of the Joint Foreign
Chambers of Commerce in Thailand.
"I don't think existing investment will be moved away but
to attract new investments will be very difficult," he
said. "You build a reputation over a long period of time
and you can destroy it overnight."
British public deficit revised downwards
AFP, London
The British government got a boost on Friday by revised
official data showing that state borrowing was less than
expected in the 2009/2010 financial year, but nevertheless
it hit a record high. Economists said the public finances
data, published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS),
would be welcomed by new finance minister George Osborne
ahead of his emergency budget due next month.
The ONS revealed that it has revised down the public
sector net borrowing requirement to 145.4 billion pounds
(167 billion euros, 210 billion dollars) for the 12 months
to March, citing increased tax receipts. The figure, which
remains a record high and includes financial-sector
intervention measures, contrasted with the prior reading
of 152.8 billion. The ONS added that borrowing in April,
the first month of the 2010/2011 financial year, climbed
to 10.0 billion pounds-which was also a record level for
the month. That was an improvement from March and compared
with 8.8 billion in April 2009. It also beat market
expectations of 10.9 billion. "April's monthly public
finances figures have brought some moderately good news
for the new government ahead of next month's emergency
budget," said Capital Economics analyst Jonathan Loynes.
Wall Street plunge triggers Asian turmoil
AFP, Hong Kong
The biggest drop in more than a year on Wall Street
triggered fresh turmoil in Asian markets Friday, amid
heightened anxiety over the eurozone debt crisis and
doubts over the strength of the US economy.
However, dealers halted their frantic selling of the euro,
sending it slightly up against other major currencies and
limiting earlier heavy share losses.
After government data showed the largest number of
Americans lining up for unemployment insurance claims in
five weeks, US shares plunged 3.60 percent with investors
also gripped by deepening fears over Europe's debt.
Asian markets tumbled in response, with several markets
hitting lows not seen for several months.
Tokyo dived 2.45 percent, or 245.77 points, to close at
9,784.54, its lowest level since December 2.
Sydney ended 0.26 percent, or 11.1 points, lower at
4,305.4 after slumping 2.9 percent to a 10-month low
earlier.
"This eurozone saga is turning into a bad horror movie,"
Phillip Securities economist Joshua Tan told Dow Jones
Newswires. "You think the monster is dead but it keeps
coming back." However, Shanghai rose 1.08 percent or 27.58
points to 2,583.52 due to expectations China will likely
hold off on further tightening measures. Hong Kong was
closed for a public holiday.
The bearish US data and euro fears prompted fresh concern
in Tokyo, with government officials fretting as investors
piled into the safe-haven yen.
A strong Japanese currency is a worry for Japan due to its
negative impact on the repatriated profits of exporters
who are currently driving the country's recovery from its
deepest post-war recession.
Japanese Finance Minister Naoto Kan said Friday that the
"excessive rise of the yen was not desirable", as the
safe-haven currency rapidly strengthened.
"We want to monitor the situation so that the appreciation
of the yen will not become excessive," he told a news
conference. However, after meeting Prime Minister Yukio
Hatoyama he later said there were not concrete plans to
deal with the situation immediately.
Against the dollar, the Japanese unit hovered around 90.22
yen, sharply up from 91.39 yen seen in Tokyo Thursday
afternoon.
The yen's sharp rise prompted the Bank of Japan to inject
one trillion yen (11.11 billion dollars) into the
short-term money market to increase liquidity.
National
Chemically treated fruits,
vegetables threat to public health
BSS, Mymensingh
Researchers of Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU)
here have found indiscriminate use of chemicals like
calcium carbide and ethophon and other non- recommended
pesticides harmful to human body for early ripening of
fruits and quick growth of vegetables by unscrupulous
businessmen in the country. They also observed that both
conventional and chemical ripening methods for ripening
locally produced fruits and vegetables like mango, tomato,
banana, jackfruit and pineapple while growth regulating
chemicals for early bearing, increased growth and
developments have been going on unabatedly.
A group of researchers led by Dr. Md Kamrul Hassan,
Associate Professor of the Department of Horticulture at
BAU revealed this in their research paper titled
"Post-harvest loss assessment: A study to formulate policy
for post harvest loss reduction of fruits and vegetables
and socio-economic uplift of the stakeholders".
Researchers and physicians in a similar tone viewed that
indiscriminate application of such dangerous chemicals and
non- recommended pesticides for ripening fruits and
growing vegetables early have become a serious threat to
public health. They advocated for adopting strict
regulation measures and concerted campaign to aware people
on the matter to protect public health.
The research paper shows that the ethephon/chlorethephon
used for ripening fruits is a source of potential health
hazards like eye, skin irritation, gastrointestinal
irritation with nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, cardiac
disturbances, central nervous system depression and
cardiac abnormalities.
Dr. Satya Ranjan Sutradhar, Head of the Department of
Medicine of Mymensingh Medical College Hospital told BSS
that uncontrolled and disproportionate use of chemicals
like calcium carbide, ethephon and different types of
pesticides has become a big threat and silently destroying
public health. He said calcium carbide can causes damage
to skin, eye, mouth, nose and throat. It can also causes
diarrhoea, jaundice and liver failure. "Most alarming sign
that free redicals from calcium carbide causes cancer,
heart disease, stroke and arthritis" Dr. Ranja said.
He said acetylene gas is produced when calcium carbide
comes in contact with water. It can lead to shorter of
breath. It may effect the neurological system and can
cause headache, dizziness, mood disturbance, sleepiness,
memory loss and seizure.
Dr. Ranjan said India has already banned use of calcium
carbide and ethephon in recent years allowing bethylene -
a less harmful chemical while Pakistan is not yet impose
any prohibition on using such chemical.
He suggested that consumers should wash properly all sorts
of fruits and vegetables before taking to reduce the
affect of poison as chemicals mostly exists outer part of
the fruits due to apply those through spraying rather than
injecting.
Plight of Aila victims in Satkhira shows no sign of
abating
32,000 remain displaced in Shyamnagar as rebuilding of
polders stalled
UNB, Dhaka
Despite repeated pleas to repair the miles of polders
damaged almost exactly a year ago by cyclone Aila, more
than 32,000 people who used to reside on these polders
still remain homeless stitching together a living in
makeshift cottages on the embankment in Shyamnagar.
With an area of over 1968 sq kilometers, Shyamnagar is the
largest thana in Bangladesh, located in Satkhira district.
Six major points of the embankment in Gabura upazila under
Shyamnagar were wrecked by the fury of Aila, triggering a
tidal surge that flooded a large area, displacing
thousands of people as the situation on the embankment
worsened day by day.
Local sources said an estimated 32,000 displaced people of
6,000 families had built their lives in this corner of
south-west Bangladesh, where the Sundarbans wade into the
Bay of Bengal.
Locals estimate that 25 percent of the people of this area
have already migrated from the region, mostly to urban
centres of Dhaka, Khulna and Jessore, as well as other
parts of the country, giving up their houses and whatever
other possessions they had in their mostly impoverished
lives till then. Another 10 percent are said to be trying
to take shelter in other locations around Satkhira.
Progoti, a non-government organization, has been working
over the last one year to mitigate the losses incurred by
these displaced people. Untold numbers in Gabura,
Padmapukur, Munshiganj, Autolia, Burigoalini and Khoikhali
have been forced to lead miserable lives since the cyclone
Aila made landfall on May 25 last year.
Polders stretching up to 5 kms in length in Gabura were
damaged by the storm along some twenty points. In most of
the cases, the locals in collaboration with the various
NGOs in the region have carried out whatever repair work
has been completed so far.
It still remains a matter of great concern to the people
hoping to rebuild their lives here that six of the major
damaged polders in the region still lay in a state of
disrepair. A combination of frequent tidal surges, which
impeded the efforts of the locals and NGOs, and also the
government's indifference have been blamed for this.
SM Rezaul Karim, a project officer at Progoti (Early
Recovery and Rehabilitation for the Cyclone Aila Affected
Communities) told UNB reporter Rafiqul Islam that although
ring-polders have been constructed at several points in
the affected areas, some 550 displaced families in Chakba,
850 in Noynumber Shura, 450 in Jaliakhali and 40 in
Nebubonia under Gabura upazila within Shyamnagar are still
living outside the ring polders.
Visiting the village of Noynumber Shura, it was found that
hundreds of houses had been submerged under the water as
the damaged embankment meant frequent intrusion of tidal
surges into the area.
Coconut: A great plantation
crop for climate change adaptation
UNB, Dhaka
Coconut, an excellent tree crop for climate change
adaptation - should be brought under massive cultivation
across the country, especially in the high water-table
zones and in the cyclone prone coastal regions as it can
easily reduce the wind speed of storm and mitigate global
warming, a researcher has suggested.
The natural juice of the coconut fruit is a wonderful and
safe natural drink, thirst quencher and remedy for
diarrhea and cholera, while the trees themselves are
suitable for climate change adaptation by keeping the
water table up, controlling erosion, acting as strong
windbreaks, and reducing storms and cyclones.
The coconut tree rejuvenates and creates soil and it has
plentiful uses. More interestingly, it grows luxuriantly
in salinity-prone areas without application of chemical
fertilizers and pesticides, and is grown absolutely
organically.
"Although it is a great crop with many contributions, very
little study on its production, yield, habit and habitat
have practically been done here in Bangladesh," said Dr
Mohammed Ataur Rahman, an accomplished agricultural
researcher.
He has recently presented a keynote paper on "Coconut in
Climate Change Adaptation" at a workshop at IUBAT
(International University of Business Agriculture and
Technology. Dr Rahman, also the Director of Centre for
Global Environmental Culture (CGEC) of IUBAT, detailed the
importance and cultivation practices of coconut grown in
Bangladesh.
CHOGM to be held Oct 28-30
next year in Australia
UNB, Dhaka
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Commonwealth
Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma announced Friday that
the next Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM)
will be held in Perth, Western Australia, on October
28-30, 2011. CHOGM is held every two years and is the
highest consultative and policy-making mechanism of the
Commonwealth.
A message from the Commonwealth Secretariat in London said
Prime Minister Rudd stated that as a committed and active
member of the Commonwealth, Australia is delighted to be
hosting CHOGM for a third time - Melbourne in 1981, Coolum
in 2002, and Perth in 2011. It said Commonwealth members
share a strong commitment to the fundamental principles of
democracy and development, good governance, the rule of
law, and the protection of human rights. CHOGM is a unique
opportunity for Commonwealth leaders to work together to
address significant global challenges. The Prime Minister
noted that "Australia and in particular Western Australia,
looks forward to welcoming Commonwealth leaders and
delegates to Perth for what I am confident will be a
successful summit."
Sports
South Africa keeps cool to sweep West
Indies
AFP, North Sound
Ryan McLaren kept his nerve in a tense final over to help
South Africa formalise a one-run victory over West Indies, and
sweep their two-match Twenty20 International series on
Thursday.
McLaren fired in a low full toss very wide of off stump, as
West Indies, chasing a modest victory target of 121, required
three from the final delivery of the match.
But he conceded just one run, after South African point
fielder Jean-Paul Duminy swooped on the ball, when West Indies
tail-ender Jerome Taylor essayed a slog at it, and it trickled
15 yards away.
"It was a bit tense at the end, so we had to find somebody to
remain calm, and Ryan kept a good sensible head, although we
had a few guys running all over the place, but it was an
exciting finish, and nice again to get over the line," South
Africa captain Graeme Smith said.
"We have performed well enough in tense situations like this
before, although our record in such situations in competition
play is quite poor, but we have performed really well again
under pressure in a game that we probably shouldn't have won,
so it's to our credit, and the confidence is definitely
growing."
South Africa also won the opening match on Wednesday by 13
runs at the same venue to take a psychological boost into the
five One-day Internationals between the two sides, which open
on Saturday at the VRCG.
Newcomer David Miller had battled to the top score of 33 from
26 balls, and Johan Botha made 23 from 22 balls to add some
respectability to the Proteas' total of 120 for seven from
their 20 overs.
They added 57 for the sixth wicket, after the West Indies'
bowlers exploited an uneven Vivian Richards Cricket Ground
pitch to floor the South Africans on 59 for five in the 13th
over.
Taylor was the most successful West Indies bowler with
flattering figures of three wickets for 14 runs from his
allotment of four overs, and Darren Sammy captured two for 16
from his four overs.
South Africa put West Indies under early pressure, when Dale
Steyn trapped West Indies captain Chris Gayle lbw for a
two-ball duck in the first over, and Morne Morkel had fellow
opener Andre Fletcher caught behind for four in the third over
to leave the home team on nine for two.
But South Africa were put on the defensive, when Shivnarine
Chanderpaul joined Dwayne Bravo, and they put West Indies back
on track with a stand of 68 for the third wicket.
Substitute fielder Roelof van der Merwe dropped Bravo, on 10,
at backward point off McLaren in the 10th over, and the West
Indies all-rounder proceeded to gather the top score of 40
from 45 balls.
South Africa regained control, when they removed four wickets
- including Chanderpaul and Bravo - for 12 runs between the
15th and 19th overs to leave West Indies 99 for six.
Carelessness by the Proteas saw West Indies inch closer to
their target, and the home team required 15 from the last
over.
McLaren, whose five wickets the previous day had wrecked West
Indies' batting, conceded 10 to Sammy from the first three
balls - a deuce to deep mid-wicket, a top-edged four to
third-man from a thick edge, and an all-run four.
The Proteas fast-medium bowler however, restricted Sammy to a
single to square leg with a well-pitched yorker from the next
delivery, and then saw left-hander Narsingh Deonarine run out
off the penultimate ball before choking Taylor.
Botha took three for 22 from four overs to make him a shoo-in
for the Man-of-the-Match award, and Morkel captured two for 15
from four overs.
Gayle was bitterly disappointed, and almost close to
speechless about how his side squandered another opportunity
for the second straight day.
"There not much that I can say at this point in time," he
said. "If we can't get 121 runs, it means our cricket is
definitely in a state."
He added: "We still have the five One-day Internationals in
which to try and turn things around before the three Tests,
but I feel as if I am repeating myself here in this
situation."
Bangladesh
League
Abahani defeats Sheikh Russel 2-1
TBT report
Two-time champion Dhaka Abahani consolidated its top spot in
the Bangladesh Football League when holders scored a 2-1
victory over Sheikh Russel Krira Chakra at Bangabandhu
National Stadium in the city on Friday.
Dhaka Abahani had the better share of the ball possession and
created more opportunities.
Abahani players looked determined and dominated from the
beginning of the game.
Despite coming close to scoring several times, the champions
had to wait 33 minutes to make the coveted breakthrough.
Ingenious Abahani midfielders worked hard in the middle of
pitch and provided ample passes to their forwards, who
faltered in front of goal and failed to provide the desired
finish.
Missing chances galore, Abahani found success when Shahed
scored after 33 minutes to give the Sky Blue shirts a 1-0 lead
at the break.
Going down 1-0, Sheikh Russel players tried to hit back and
Abahani players were contained against a rejuvenated Sheikh
Russel.
Roni Islam scored the equaliser for Sheikh Russel on 85
minutes but the lady luck did not smile on them. They failed
to maintain the parity and the remaining minutes were enough
to make the Abahani fans happy.
Abahani players shrugged off their laxity and striker Enamul
Haque scored a last gasp winner with two minutes remaining to
ensure full points for the champions.
Butt plays
down match-fixing reports
AFP, Karachi
Pakistan's cricket chief Friday played down reports of
match-fixing during the team's disastrous tour of
Australia, saying the game's governing body has found no
evidence of wrongdoing.
The International Cricket Council's (ICC) anti-corruption
unit confirmed on Thursday that it has been investigating
Pakistan's Sydney Test defeat against Australia but said
the challenge was finding solid facts.
Pakistan lost the Sydney Test in January by 36 runs, after
gaining a first-innings lead of 206 and failing to chase a
modest target of 176 runs. MPs on Friday summoned
officials for further investigation after leaked video
footage of a Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) inquiry showed
players and former officials raising suspicions about
match-fixing on the Australia tour.
The parliamentary committee will meet in Islamabad on
Monday and also decide whether to appoint independent
judges to investigate the allegations.
PCB chairman Ijaz Butt, Australia tour coach Intikhab Alam,
team manager Abdul Raqeeb, former captain Younus Khan and
former chief selector Iqbal Qasim are expected to attend
Monday's meeting. Butt said no evidence of match-fixing
had been found by the PCB. "ICC has all the right to
investigate any series or any match, but as far as the
Australia tour is concerned the ICC has already said there
was no evidence," Butt told AFP.
Court restores India's sacked
federation
AFP, New Delhi
A court on Friday restored the Indian Hockey Federation,
two years after it was dissolved by the country's Olympic
chiefs over bribery allegations and poor on-field results.
The Indian Olympic Association had sacked the IHF, led by
decorated police official Kanwar Pal Singh Gill, in April
2008 and appointed a new body, Hockey India, to run the
sport in the country.
But the Delhi High Court, ruling on a petition filed by
Gill, set aside the government-backed dissolution order,
saying a "new beginning" was required to revive hockey in
India.
"The knee-jerk reaction to losses at international events,
which are inevitable in competitive events, and looking
for persons to blame, cannot be conducive to a healthy
development of any national sport," judge S. Muralidhar
said in the order.
"For a proper enquiry into the problems besetting Indian
hockey, the cloud of suspension over the IHF should be
lifted. The past should be put behind and a new beginning
made."
The IHF was sacked after India failed to qualify for the
Beijing Olympics and its secretary, Kandaswamy
Jothikumaran, was accused in a TV sting operation of
accepting bribes to include a player in the national team.
Jothikumaran denied any corruption, saying he had accepted
the money to start preparing for a proposed international
tournament and not for any player's selection.
Gill, who was credited with wiping out Sikh militancy in
the northern state of Punjab where he was the police chief
in the 1980s, welcomed the court order.
"I am very happy," Gill told the Press Trust of India.
"Justice has been finally done. Now we have to follow it
up and ensure that hockey is revived."
There was no immediate comment from the sports ministry or
the IOA as Hockey India, administered by an ad hoc
committee pending elections, effectively ceased to exist.
India, once the masters of the sport with eight Olympic
titles, finished eighth in the World Cup held in New Delhi
in March.
Federer gets tough Paris mission
Serena, Henin on collision course
AFP, Paris
Four-time winner Rafael Nadal claimed the first victory of
the 2010 French Open on Friday without hitting a ball
after seeing defending champion Roger Federer handed a
potentially tougher draw.
Federer, whose Roland Garros win in 2009 allowed him to
complete a career Grand Slam, opens against Australian
Davis Cup player Peter Luczak and could face Swiss
compatriot Stanilas Wawrinka in the fourth round.
However Robin Soderling, who sent Nadal crashing to his
first French Open defeat in 2009, could be a quarter-final
opponent as could Latvia's in-form Ernests Gulbis, the man
who beat Federer at the Rome Masters in April.
Should Federer make the semi-final, fourth-seeded Briton
Andy Murray, who has a 6-5 career advantage over the Swiss
may be waiting. Murray has an intriguing first round clash
with France's Richard Gasquet.
Second seed Nadal, fresh from sweeping all three claycourt
Masters title and the overwhelming favourite to regain his
Roland Garros title, will face French wildcard Gianni
Mina, the world 653, in his first round.
Australian veteran Lleyton Hewitt, who has lost three
times in four years to Nadal in Paris, is a possible third
round opponent.
Nadal's Spanish compatriot Fernando Verdasco, who has a
0-10 against the world number two, is a potential
quarter-final opponent. World number four Novak Djokovic
is seeded to meet Nadal in the semi-finals.
In the women's draw, top seed Serena Williams was handed a
testing path with four-time champion Justine Henin a
possible quarter-final opponent.
Henin, the winner in 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007 before
sensationally quitting the sport on the eve of the 2008
event, is playing here for the first time since her return
to the game.
Belgium's former number one lost in three sets to Williams
in the final of the Australian Open in January, a result
that gave the American a 12th Grand Slam title. Also in
Williams's top half of the draw is another former world
number one, Maria Sharapova, another possible last eight
opponent.
Williams starts her French Open campaign against
Switzerland's Stefanie Voegele while Henin faces
Bulgaria's Tsvetana Pironkova in her opener.
Venus Williams, the second seed and runner-up to her
sister in 2002, faces Swiss veteran Patty Schnyder in her
opener while defending champion Svetlana Kuznetsova of
Russia, the sixth seed, starts against Romania's Sorana
Cirstea.
World number three Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark, who has
been struggling with an ankle injury, tackles Russia's
Alla Kudryavtseva in the first round.
Ribery becomes highest ever earner for Bayern
Munich
AFP, Berlin
Bayern Munich playmaker Franck Ribery will sign a
three-year contract extension that will make him the
club's highest ever earner and keep him with the German
champions until 2015, it was reported Friday. Bild tabloid
daily said Ribery, who has endured arguably one of his
toughest seasons both on and off the pitch, would on
Saturday sign a deal worth 10 million euros annully.
Although he still has a year left on his current contract
the paper said Ribery's new deal would begin on July 1,
2010.
If confirmed it would make him the club's highest ever
earner - and would be good news for both club and
27-year-old Ribery, who moved to Bayern from Marseille in
2007. Bayern began the season warding off the attentions
of European giants like Real Madrid, who were looking to
sign Ribery.
The French international then suffered a series of
injuries that scuppered his season, and last month he hit
the headlines after being implicated in a scandal
involving an underage escort girl.
The affair reportedly turned Real Madrid off Ribery's
scent. On-field frustrations, in the shape of a three-game
UEFA ban for a nasty tackle during the Champions League
semi-final against Lyon-which will keep Ribery out of
Saturday's final against Inter Milan-soon followed.
Ribery, however, will be in Madrid Saturday to sign his
contract extension with Bayern, according to Bild which
cited "reliable French sources". Representatives for
Ribery and Bayern reportedly met Thursday at the Madrid
hotel where Bayern Munich are staying prior to the final.
Ribery said recently he wanted to sort his club future out
before the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, which begins on
June 11.
And Bayern have been making special efforts in recent
weeks to keep Ribery at the club, where-in spite of his
difficult season-he is largely adored by fans.
Shin, Miyazato advance at LPGA match Play
AFP, Gladstone
World number one Jiyai Shin and red-hot Ai Miyazato of
Japan booked their second-round berths at the LPGA Sybase
Match Play with comfortable victories on Thursday. As
Tuesday's rainy weather gave way to sunny skies over a wet
course, Shin beat fellow South Korean Kyeong Bae 3 and 2.
Miyazato, the second seed and winner of three of the first
six LPGA events of the season, downed South Korea's Jeong
Jang 4 and 3.
But third-seeded Norwegian Suzann Pettersen tumbled as US
veteran Juli Inkster rallied for a 21-hole triumph.
Inkster, 49, made a 10-foot birdie putt on the par-five
18th to force extra holes, then finished off Pettersen
with a four-footer for par at the par-three third.
"If Suzann and I played 10 days in a row, she would
probably beat me seven," said Inkster, a 31-time LPGA Tour
winner in her Hall of Fame career. "I was never up in the
match all day, so it's just match play, it's weird,"
Inkster said. "I don't think we both played our best golf,
but that's the thing with match play. Even though you're
playing the third-best player in the world, if you make a
few putts and hit a few good shots here and there, you
have a shot." Michelle Wie emerged from a tight match with
a 2-up victory over fellow American Stacy Prammanasudh.
Wie took the lead with a 30-foot birdie putt on the
par-three 16th and won 2-up with a conceded birdie on 18.
"It was a fight. She played extremely well," Wie said. "It
was one of those matches where you had to make birdie to
win, so kind of with that mindset, I went out and grinded
and just tried to make birdies."
Wie, the eighth seed will face Hee Young Park, a 19-hole
winner over Ji Young Oh, in the second round Friday at
Hamilton Farm.
Shin will play another South Korean, Hee-Won Han in the
second round, while Miyazato will face South Korea's MJ
Hur. Inkster will face South Korea's Amy Yang.
South Korean veteran Se Ri Pak, who won the title in
Mobile, Alabama, last week in a playoff, dropped a 3-and-2
decision to Spain's Azahara Munoz, while 62nd-seeded
Beatriz Recari of Spain upset American Brittany Lincicome,
the match play winner in 2006 at the same venue.
Recari claimed a 1-up victory even though the long-hitting
Lincicome had 60-70 yards on her off the tee.
Kim Dae-Hyun
grabs outright lead
AFP, Seoul
Kim Dae-Hyun stayed on track for his second straight
OneAsia title after the 22-year-old shot a course-record-equalling
64 to secure the second-round lead at the SK Telecom Open
on Friday.
The big-hitting Korean moved to 14-under after bagging
eight birdies in another bogey-free round on the Ocean
Course at the Sky 72 Golf Club, near Seoul.
Bae Sang-Moon shot a bogey-free 65 to lie three shots
behind his compatriot and good friend as the 23-year-old
seeks to regain the title he won in 2007.
K.J. Choi, seeking a fourth SK Telecom Open title, was
also bogey-free in a 66 that put the seven-time PGA Tour
winner eight-under and sharing third with Australian
Andrew Tschudin, who carded a second 68.
Scotland's Simon Yates (69) is seven-under with Korean Lee
Yong-Hun (68).
Kim, the Korean Tour's longest hitter, birdied his opener
on hole 10 and picked up further shots on 12, 16 and 17.
"Bigfoot" then continued the form that earned him this
month's GS Caltex Maekyung Open title with a hat-trick of
birdies from four to six and stuck his approach at the
par-four ninth to two feet for birdie number eight. "My
putting was especially good and I'm happy to have no
bogeys for a second day," said the soft-spoken Kim. "It
will be fun playing with Sang-Moon as we've played
together a lot before. I won't feel any pressure."
Bae, who played with Choi, is determined to regain the
title he won three years ago and remained as confident as
ever.
"I'm not as angry as I was yesterday," said Bae. "My
putting was much better, so I'm happy," added Bae, who has
won the Korean Tour Order of Merit for the past two years.
"K.J. is a fantastic player, so it was great to play with
him for two rounds. I'm confident, I like this course and
I think I have a good chance this weekend."
Choi again attracted the biggest crowds as he goes in
search of his fourth title following wins in 2003, 2005
and 2008, when he shot a course-record 64 at the Ocean
Course. "A six-under round was my goal and my birdie on my
last hole ensured that," said Choi, who turned 40 on
Wednesday.
"I'd like to win the title again after missing out last
year. The most important shots here are your irons as you
really need to position yourself in the right place on the
greens."
Cardiff and Blackpool aim for Premier League
jackpot
AFP, London
Cardiff manager Dave Jones insists his team won't crack
under the pressure of playing in English football's
richest single match when it faces Blackpool in the
Championship play-off final today.
Jones' side will book a place among England's elite teams
for the first time since 1960 if they win at Wembley and,
just as significantly for a club struggling with financial
problems, net an estimated 50 million pounds (71 million
dollars) jackpot in the process.
Taking on the likes of Chelsea, Manchester United and
Arsenal in the Premier League will bring the south Wales
club massively increased income streams through television
revenue, merchandising and gate receipts.
It would also be the perfect way to welcome Malaysian
tycoon Vincent Tan's consortium, who are ready to put a
substantial stake into a club which only avoided a
winding-up order over an unpaid tax bill earlier this
month.
Jones is confident playing in such a high-stakes encounter
won't reduce his players to a bag of nerves because they
have already proved they can handle the play-off pressure
by winning their penalty shoot-out against Leicester in
the semi-finals.
"In the main I have nothing but admiration for these
players," Jones said. "We have battled injuries, illness
and retirements as well as all the off-the-field problems.
"We haven't carried the biggest of squads but we have a
camaraderie that binds the squad and staff together and
they have all been superb.
"Some of the best players in the world have frozen in big
games but we have got to go out and play with freedom.
"If you make a mistake, don't worry about it and get on
with it. If anybody is not looking forward to it then get
out now because this is what we all aspire to in the
game."
Jones knows what it takes to win a big game at Wembley
after leading Cardiff to FA Cup semi-final success there
against Barnsley in 2008.
That result brought Cardiff's first FA Cup final
appearance for 81 years but defeating Blackpool would mean
much more to a club starved of top-flight football for
over half a century.
Not that they will get an easy ride against the
Championship's surprise package.
Few pundits expected Blackpool to achieve anything more
than avoiding relegation this season.
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