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Leading News
Subsidy in
next fiscal
PDB needs Tk 5000 cr to purchase electricity from rental
power plants
UNB, Dhaka
The government will have to provide a subsidy of Tk 5,000
crore to the power sector in the coming fiscal for
purchasing electricity from the costly rental power
plants.
However, the amount of subsidy would be less if the power
tariff is increased, according to officials in the Power
Ministry and other agencies in the power sector.
Official sources said that of the amount, roughly Tk 3000
crore will be required for purchasing electricity only
from the diesel-based rental power plants having total
capacity of 450 MW with per unit production cost of Tk
13-14. The remaining amount will be required for the
furnace oil-based plants.
Under a government crash programme, so far agreements were
signed for installing the rental power plants of 600 MW.
The officials said the PDB had to incur a loss of Tk 900
crore in the current fiscal (2009-10) because of its sale
of electricity at rates lower than the actual production
cost. So far, PDB has received only Tk 594 crore in two
phases as loan from the Finance Ministry to make up the
loss. The remaining Tk 300 crore for subsidy was managed
from other heads.
The Finance Ministry provided the amount of the subsidy
from a World Bank credit that the donor agency provided
under an agreement beyond the budgetary allocation.
Finance Ministry officials, however, remained in the dark
as to the amount of money that will be required by the
Power Ministry in the coming fiscal that will start from
July 2010.
Meanwhile, the Cabinet Purchase Committee, which approved
the proposals for purchasing electricity from rental power
plants, rejected an appeal of the Power Ministry for
providing the required subsidy from the state-exchequer.
Instead, the Cabinet body asked the Power Ministry to
settle the subsidy issue through negotiation with the
Finance Ministry.
The government already raised the allocation for power
sector to about Tk 4975 crore from the last year's revised
allocation of Tk 2600 crore.
But the allocation was made mainly for implementation and
maintenance of power plant projects in the public sector,
not for purchasing electricity from the private sector.
"As a result, the PDB will have to incur a loss of up to
Tk 5000 crore in its annual projected sale of 30,000
million units in the coming fiscal. This amount must come
from the government exchequer to offset the loss.
Otherwise, PDB cannot survive," said an official.
In the current fiscal, the sold units of electricity will
be about 27,000 million with production cost of Tk 2.80
per unit.
When contacted, Power Secretary Abul Kalam Azad admitted
the increase in the government's subsidy. He indicated
that the amount of subsidy might be increased by 10-15
percent but said the full calculation has not been made
yet.
Azad, however, said the concerned agencies in power sector
would submit their respective proposal to the Bangladesh
Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) to increase the power
tariff both in retail and at bulk level.
"The concerned agencies have already started the process
to place their proposals to the BERC," he added.
Uphold
nation’s image
PM urges Bangladeshi peacekeepers
UNB, Dhaka
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has urged the Bangladeshi
peacekeepers working under the UN umbrella to carry out
their missions with utmost sincerity, upholding the
dignity of the national flag and brightening the image of
the motherland.
Addressing a function marking the International Day of the
UN peacekeepers at Bangabandhu International Conference
Centre (BICC) on Saturday afternoon, she also urged the
blue helmets to ensure their effective participation in
the worldwide peacekeeping activities and earn more fame
and pride for the nation.
The Prime Minister assured that her government would
provide all out assistance to the armed forces - whatever
they need to improve their standard and image.
"We'll generously provide all sorts of assistance to you.
I know this has risk… but I don't care as I will do this
for the interest of the nation," she said. "We'll deliver
what the three forces need to improve. We won't take long
to take decisions, I can assure you that."
She said that her government would provide modern training
for the peacekeepers so they could match step with thee
peacekeepers from other countries.
Hasina said that her government has taken initiatives to
procure some more Armoured Personnel Carriers (APC) for
Bangladeshi peacekeepers so that the armed forces and
police personnel from the country could be included in the
peacekeeping missions with increasing numbers.
The Prime Minister said that Bangladesh is now capable to
send peacekeeping personnel to any part of the world at
any moment. "We are always ready to establish peace in any
country under the UN Security Council."
She said that the peacekeepers have brightened
Bangladesh's image in world and the money they earned with
hard labour would help the country's economy to stand on
solid ground.
Hasina mentioned that due to the contribution of the
peacekeepers, the country could make good relations with
the stronger countries around the world, in terms of
military and economical strength. She said: "You'll be
happy to know that after we assumed power, our position
strengthened further in the UN (peacekeeping) missions."
Zia’s
29th death anniversary today
UNB, Dhaka
The 29th death anniversary of late President Ziaur Rahman,
founder of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), will be
observed today (Sunday).
All units of BNP and its front and associate organizations
across the country will observe Zia's death anniversary
with due solemnity.
On May 30 in 1981, President Zia was assassinated by a
group of disgruntled army officers at the Circuit House in
Chittagong.
Main opposition BNP and its front and associate
organizations have chalked out a 10-day programme to
observe the day.
The programmes include discussions, hoisting party and
black flags, wearing black badges, placing wreaths and
offer fathea at Zia's mazar, distribution of cooked food
among the destitute, voluntary blood donation and photo
exhibition.
As part of the programmes, BNP held a discussion on the
life and works of Ziaur Rahman at the Institute of
Engineers' auditorium Saturday afternoon.
On Sunday (May 30), the party flag will be hoisted at half
mast and black flag atop the BNP's Nayapaltan central
office at 6am. Leaders and workers of BNP led by Khaleda
Zia will place wreaths and offer fathea at Zia's mazar at
Sher-e-Bangla Nagar at 10 am. She will also join a doa
mahfil at the mazar premises.
BNP to go for non-stop
agitation if June 27 hartal obstructed: Delwar
UNB, Dhaka
Mainstream opposition BNP on Saturday warned that non-stop
agitation would be announced if the government obstructs
its June 27 countrywide dawn-to-dusk hartal.
BNP also challenged that the ruling Awami League would
never be able to return to 1972 constitution.
BNP leaders came up with the tough stance at a discussion
held at the Engineers Institute auditorium, organized to
mark the 29th death anniversary of late President Ziaur
Rahman, founder of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).
BNP secretary general Khandaker Delwar Hossain, who
chaired the discussion, said if the hartal is obstructed
they know how to announce the non-stop agitation.
He asked the government to refrain from provocative
statements and using state-machinery against the hartal.
Otherwise, he cautioned that the consequences will not be
good and the government will have to bear its
responsibility.
Referring to the recent statements by Awami League leaders
over returning to the '72 constitution, BNP front-ranking
leader Barrister Maudud Ahmed MP threw a challenge that
the Awami League would never be able to restore the '72
constitution.
He said the AL leaders are uttering such words just to
create instability and tension among people to cover up
their failures.
Justifying his challenge, former Law Minister Maudud said
the Awami League can never abolish the provisions of the
Special Powers Act, and the emergency which were included
in the 1972 constitution through amendment.
He further said the government cannot erase Bismillah-hir
Rahmanir Rahim from the constitution and other contents.
Maudud also mentioned that the Awami League would not be
able to erase the contents in the constitution regarding
Bangladesh's relation with Muslim Ummah.
The discussion was also addressed by leaders of BNP and
its front and associate organizations including Dr
Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, Mirza Abbas, Barrister
Rafiqul Islam Mia, Nazrul Islam Khan, Sadeq Hossain Khoka,
Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury, Shawkat Mahmud and Mirza Fakhrul
Islam Alamgir.
BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia was present at the function as
an audience.
BD to
administer multi-donor trust fund on climate change: Hasan
Mahmud
UNB, Dhaka
The government has finally cleared the cloud over the
control of the Multi-Donor Trust Fund (MDTF) on climate
change, which will now be administered by Bangladesh with
a new nomenclature.
The MDTF was formed in London in 2008 to help Bangladesh
cope with the adverse impact of the global warming. There
was quiet a row between the government and the World Bank
over the management of the Fund.
"Bangladesh will administer the fund (approx. Tk 1,200
crore), not the World Bank," State Minister for
Environment and Forests Dr Hasan Mahmud said at a press
conference at his ministry on Saturday. He said the MDTF
will soon be renamed as Bangladesh Climate Change
Resilient Fund (BCCRF).
The press conference was organized to brief the
journalists on the two-day Asia Conference of the Global
Climate Change Alliance (GCCA) that begins here tomorrow
(Sunday).
The Global Climate Change Alliance is an initiative of the
European Union with an aim to build a new alliance on
climate change between the European Union and the poor
developing countries that are most affected and that have
the least capacity to deal with climate change.
Bangladesh and European Union will jointly host the
conference at Hotel Sheraton. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina
will inaugurate the conference.
Top government officials from Afghanistan, Bhutan,
Cambodia, Laos, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal and Yemen will
take part in the conference.
Hasan Mahmud said a declaration regarding the renaming of
the fund would come soon. "A governing body will be formed
to administer the fund. Ministers for Finance,
Agriculture, Food and Disaster Management, and Environment
and Forests will be the part of the governing body," he
said.
The report claims that Bangladesh government is refusing
to accept a £60m donation from Britain because of a
dispute over how the money will be provided. About the
function of the World Bank if Bangladesh administers the
fund, Hasan Mahmud said the World Bank would provide
technical assistance to Bangladesh as the Bank has certain
agreements with the donors.
Among the donors, the UK has pledged 60 million pounds
sterling, the European Union 8.5 million Euros, Denmark 10
million Danish kroner to the fund.
5.56 lakh new voters
to play key role in electing CCC Mayor
Mohiuddin vows to resist any conspiracy to handover
port
UNB, Dhaka
New voters, not less than 5.56 lakh of which nearly 90
percent represent the educated and technology-driven
society, will be the key factor in the June 17 Chittagong
City Corporation (CCC) polls.
The number of voters during the last CCC polls held in
2005, was 11.38 lakh which increased to 15, 78,782 ahead
of the last parliamentary elections (2008). Later in 2009,
the voter list of CCC was updated that added 1.24 lakh
fresh voters.
According to the officials at Chittgaong District Election
Commission, the present number of voters in the CCC area
is approximately 16.9 lakh.
Two key candidates vying for Mayor - ABM Mohiuddin
Chowdhury of ruling Awami League and Monzur Alam Monzu of
BNP have targeted the new voters during their campaign.
Mohiddin, consecutive three time Mayor is using digital
technology on Saturday to attract the young voters. His
eldest son Chowdhury Mohibul Hasan Noufel who has recently
returned from UK after doing Bar at Law is coordinating
the 'digital campaign' in favor of his father.
"We've made few documentaries based on my father's
autobiography and development activities in Chittagong.
Those will be distributed in the form of CDs during the
election campaign," Noufel told the reporters Saturday.
He also informed that they are designing two websites
containing ward-based voters' information and election
related data.
Meanwhile, Transit facility to neighboring India does not
necessarily mean the handing over of Chittagong seaport to
India, ruling Awami League backed Mayor candidate ABM
Mohiuddin Chowdhury said Saturday.
"Giving transit facility to India doesn't mean handing
over of the port to India. I always stood against the
conspiracy of leasing out Chittgaong port in the past.
And, I shall be the first to resist if I see any
conspiracy to handover the port to India in the name of
transit," he told journalists at the Nagorik Committee
office at city's Nandankakon today.
Replying to a question Mohiuddin said he did not do any
business through paralyzing Chittagong port in the name of
movement.
"I didn't make wealth for me by capitalizing the port
situation. But
I won't keep mum if anybody wants to take advantage by
bartering the interest of the port workers," he said
He claimed that he made the CCC profitable through
introducing different income-generating projects.
RMG workers protest
colleague’s death in road accident
UNB, Narayanganj
Garments workers went on berserk on Dhaka-Narayanganj Link
Road in Fatulla thana on Saturday following the death of
one of their colleagues in a road accident.
The deceased worker was identified as Hossain Ali, Iron
Man of Berlin Knit ware at Bhuigor in same thana.
Police said a bus of Setu Paribahan hit Hossain at Bhuigor
on Dhaka-Narayanganj Link Road while he was crossing the
road for going to his work place, leaving him injured at
8am.
He was rushed to Dhaka Medical College Hospital where he
succumbed at about 10:30am.
As his death news spread out, about 1,000 workers of the
factory came out on the Link Road where they staged
demonstration and blocked the road, disrupting traffic
movement.
They also set fire to four buses of Setu Paribahan.
Meanwhile, transport workers blocked a road in Chasara Bus
Counter area at noon on a rumour that garments workers
kidnapped two workers of Setu Paribahan.
Back Page
US weighs military option in
Pakistan
AP, Washington
The U.S. military is developing plans for a unilateral
attack on the Pakistani Taliban in the event of a
successful terrorist strike in the United States that can
be traced to them, The Washington Post reports.
Planning for a retaliatory attack was spurred by ties
between alleged Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad and
elements of the Pakistani Taliban, the Post said in an
article posted on its website Friday night, quoting
unidentified senior military officials.
The military would focus on air and missile strikes but
also could use small teams of U.S. Special Operations
troops currently along the border with Afghanistan, the
Post said.
Airstrikes could damage the militants' ability to launch
new attacks but also might damage U.S.-Pakistani
relations.
The CIA already conducts unmanned drone strikes in the
country's tribal regions. Officials told the Post that a
U.S. military response would be considered only if a
terrorist attacks persuaded President Barack Obama that
the CIA campaign is ineffective.
A senior U.S. official told The Associated Press on
Wednesday that Pakistan already has been told that it has
only weeks to show real progress in a crackdown against
the Taliban.
The U.S. has put Pakistan "on a clock" to launch a new
intelligence and counterterrorist offensive against the
group, which the White House alleges was behind the Times
Square bombing attempt, according to the official.
U.S. officials also have said the U.S. reserves the right
to strike in the tribal areas in pursuit of Osama bin
Laden and other high-value targets.
At the same, the Obama administration is working to
improve ties with Pakistani intelligence officials to head
off attacks by militant groups, the Post reported.
Officials quoted by the Post and the AP requested
anonymity because of the sensitivity surrounding U.S.
military and intelligence activities in Pakistan.
2-day Asia climate
conference opens today
BSS, Dhaka
The regional conference of Asian countries of the Global
Climate Change Alliance (GCCA) begins here today aimed at
outlining a strategy to protect the interests of the
region in next climate summit in Mexico.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate the two-day
conference at Hotel Sheraton here at 10 am today.
Afghanistan, Bhutan, Cambodia, Laos, the Maldives,
Myanmar, Nepal and Yemen will attend the conference being
sponsored by the European Union.
EU Commissioner on Climate Action and former Danish
Climate Minister Connie Hedegaard will attend the
conference as the Guest of Honour along with an EU
delegation.
At a press conference at his office on the eve of the
conference, State Minister for Environment and Forests Dr
Hasan Mahmud said, "the conference would help making our
voice louder in Mexico".
"The conference would outline a strategy to protect the
interests of LDCs and Most Vulnerable Countries (MVCs) in
Mexico and set a number of immediate priorities for
adaptation and mitigation through GCCA," he said.
The conference is also set for signing an agreement
between three Asian countries-Bangladesh, Cambodia and
Maldives and the European Union on climate cooperation, he
said.
The Dhaka conference is one of the four conferences being
held by the EU across the world before next climate summit
in Mexico to outline a strategy to protect interests of
LDCs and MVCs in Mexico, he said.
The GCCA was formed at the initiative of the European
Union (EU) in 2007 to bring the developing countries
particularly the most vulnerable ones to climate change,
in a platform to adapt to climate change and pursue
sustainable development strategies.
By focusing on the LDCs and small island states (SIDS),
the alliance offers a structured dialogue and concrete
cooperation on actions funded by the EU's development
policy.
Poor
corporate governance
Weak shareholder rights, pervasive lack of transparency
major reasons: WB
UNB, Dhaka
A World Bank Group report on the state of corporate
governance in Bangladesh has emphasised weak shareholder
rights and a pervasive lack of transparency as the most
prominent reasons behind the country's relatively weak
corporate governance structure.
The report, titled "Corporate Governance: Report On
Standards and Codes 2009", was launched Saturday at a
function at a city hotel.
The report was prepared in collaboration with leading
Dhaka think-tank the Bangladesh Enterprise Institute,
along with support from the country's Securities and
Exchange Commission.
Although some of the data used in the report is somewhat
outdated (the latest year for which data could be accessed
during the preparation of the report was 2008), and hence
fails to account for the very latest trends in the
Bangladeshi corporate sector.
Eminent economist Dr Mirza Azizul Islam wryly pointed out
during the discussion session that the market
capitalisation to GDP ratio in Bangladesh at the end of
2009 stood at nearly 30%, as opposed to the much less
impressive 2008 figure quoted in the report of 15%.
Finance Minister AMA Muhith mentioned how sound corporate
governance is "essential" for stable growth and
development of the private sector. He said the publication
of the World Bank Group report is "a great step forward."
The World Bank and its affiliates define corporate
governance as the "structures and processes for the
direction and control of companies."
It is said to concern the relationships among the
management, Board of Directors, controlling shareholders,
minority shareholders and other stakeholders.
Good corporate governance can contribute to sustainable
development by enhancing the performance of companies and
even increasing their access to capital.
Bangladesh has taken steps to improve corporate governance
practices in recent years, but continues to face
significant challenges. For example, in 2006, the
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued the first
Guidelines on Corporate Governance.
Bangladesh Enterprise Institute (BEI) has been providing
training to a number of directors on the boards of listed
companies and state-owned enterprises, but trainers say
implementation of the SEC's guidelines, and entrenching a
greater degree of professionalism in company management
remain "in question", and that additional institutional
and legal reforms are needed.
The need for further, more wide-ranging reforms was a
recurring theme on the occasion.
Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr Atiur Rahman drew particular
attention to the crucial role technology has to play in
the regulatory process.
Sahara asks Eden College
students to stop collecting money for admission, hostel
seats
UNB, Dhaka
Home Minister Sahara Khatun on Saturday urged students of
Eden Girls College to refrain from collecting money over
admission and hostel seats from new students.
"Stern action will be taken if they do not quit such
unpleasant practices," she warned after strongly
criticizing the recent unpleasant incidents, including
reported extortions, trading over admission and hostel
seats in the college.
The Home Minister was addressing at the fresher reception
at the Eden Girsl College in the afternoon.
Sahara said the guardians of the students send their
children to study in colleges, not for getting involved in
such kind of unpleasant activities. The Home Minister
urged the students to pay more attention to their studies.
About incidents of eve teasing that led to some
unfortunate deaths across the country, the Home Minister
said steps have already taken, including awareness
campaign, to stop the eve teasing. "Community police is
also working alongside the administration in curbing it."
Mostafa Jalal Mohiuddin MP and eminent singer Mamotaz
Begum, MP, among others addressed the function.
Call for
effective govt steps for development of haor region
UNB, Dhaka
Speaker Abdul Hamid Advocate on Saturday urged the
government for effective steps to ensure smooth
communication and also for dredging of the rivers for the
development of the haor region.
"Haor areas are more vulnerable to climate change. We
should take immediate steps to ensure the existence of the
haors by dredging the rivers in the region and for
ensuring smooth communication system," he said was
speaking at a book unveiling ceremony at the Sangsad
Bhaban Media Centre.
Young writer and researcher ASM Yunus has written the book
titled 'Haorbashir Jibon Katha' focusing the problems,
potentiality and socio-economic scenario of the haor
region.
Chaired by Commonwealth Journalists Association president
and eminent journalist Hasan Shahriar, the function was
also addressed, among others, by MA Mannan MP, Rebeka
Momin MP, eminent economist Quazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad,
Asiatic Society President Prof Sirajul Islam and Prof Dr
ASM Atiqur Rahman of Dhaka University.
Addressing the function as chief guest, Abdul Hamid
mentioned that the Bangabandhu's government had formed the
Haor Development Board for the first time with the Board's
headquarters at Kishoreganj for the development of the
haor areas.
He said no initiative was taken to develop the haor areas
after the killing of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
"Later, in 1996, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina-led Awami
League government took steps for the development of the
haor region."
Blaming to the past governments, the Speaker said that
when the Awami League government was changed in 2001, all
development works were stopped.
Referring to the present government's initiatives to
develop the haor areas, the Speaker said the government
has taken many development schemes. If these are
implemented in time, the scenario of the haor region will
change for the better.
Recalling to the recent damages caused by waters coming
from upstream, he said that a vast area of boro fields
were inundated putting thousands of farmer families into
an uncertain future.
Abdul Hamid urged the authorities concerned to distribute
interest-free agriculture loan among the affected farmers
in haor areas.
He also called upon the lawmakers from the haor region to
play effective role in parliament to draw the government's
attention for the development of the haor region.
Face hartal
sponsors politically: Dr Razzaq
BSS, Tangail
Food Minister Dr Abdur Razzaq Saturday said the government
would face hartal politically as anarchy in the name of
such programme can never be accepted in the greater
interest of the national economy.
"The main opposition is trying to create anarchy in the
name of so-called hartal to protect the war criminals from
trial, but the people of Independent and Sovereign
Bangladesh would not tolerate it," he said while
addressing an extended meeting of Dhanbari Upazila Awami
League in the district.
Presided over by upazila AL president Khondokar Bodiul
Alam Monju, the meeting was also addressed, among others,
by upazila AL general secretary Tofazzel Hossain and AL
leader Firoj Ahmed. Earlier, the minister saw for himself
the progress of development works of Dhannabri Degree
College.
Editorial
Attracting foreign
investment
The
country is in dire need of increased foreign investment to
bolster the national economy. In view of this the government
has directed Bangladesh missions abroad to take effective
measurers for enhancing exports and attracting foreign
investment.
Taking measures for boosting exports and attracting investment
has become urgently essential as both our exports to foreign
countries and foreign investment at home are passing through a
rough weather following the global economic recession.
Moreover, it is alleged that till recently the foreign
investors were feeling discouraged to invest in Bangladesh due
to insecurity caused by political uncertainty and labour
unrest. Now that a democratic government has been established
through elections and the political climate has improved,
foreign investors' worries are supposed to be removed and the
way for their investment in Bangladesh is expected to have
been paved.
Now, as we are desperately in need of foreign investment, no
stone should be left unturned to persuade the prospective
investors to come forward for investment in different sectors
of Bangladesh. It is encouraging that local investment has
started increasing in the wake of the country's return to
democracy. If considerable foreign investment can be ensured
then fresh bloods are expected to be infused into the economy
much to the benefit of the country. It goes without saying
that foreign investors emphasise on congenial atmosphere for
investment and security of the sectors they invest in and
these must be ensured at any cost. Simultaneously our missions
abroad, which are often accused of inaction and failure in
accomplishing the vital tasks, must be active and go all out
for enhancing exports and attracting foreign investment.
In the modern age, the progress of a nation is marked by its
economic advancement and so topmost priority should be
attached to the achievements of the objectives set by the
government. We feel that the government should take all steps
and provide all incentives necessary in this regard.
Erosion by rivers
River-erosion
is nothing new in the country. Every year vast tracts of land
with homesteads, establishments and crops and trees are being
devoured by the rivers rendering huge people homeless and
destitute. This year the erosion by rivers seems to be more
extensive and devastating. According to the latest reports, a
large number of people of three upazials in Sylhet district
have been affected by the erosion of Kushiara and Surma
rivers. Although these rivers turn into canals during the
winter season, they are now in spate and have started eroding
the banks with full fury.
Many other rivers also are eroding their banks and devouring
land, crop fields and homesteads at a number of places. For
example, recently 21 villages of Kurigram and Kishoreganj have
been devoured by river erosion. The homesteads of 450 families
there have gone into river-bed and the affected people are
passing their days under open sky.
Major damages are caused every year mainly by erosion of the
rivers Padma, Meghna, Jamuna and Brahmaputra and this year is
also no exception in this respect. With the rise of water
level, large scale erosion by rivers is going on at different
places of the country. The mighty Padma has devoured two
kilometre crop land in Aliabad union under Faridpur Sadar
thana of Faridpur district. Jamuna river has eroded vast tract
of land at Saghata in Gaibandha. The river has devoured two
hundred homesteads and trees and crops during the last one
week. Two barracks of Natarkandi Shelter Centre at Astamir
Char union under Chilmari in Kurigram has gone into river bed
as the Brahmaputra continues to erode its bank. Twenty familes
rendered homeless by erosion are now passing days under open
sky. In Ulipur of Kurigram, river erosion has rendedred 200
families shelterless. Similarly rivers are eroding their banks
at Manikganj, Munshiganj, Shariatpur, Bogra and Maulbibazar.
River erosion is a scourge for the people of Bangladesh as it
devours land and renders people homeless at different places
every year. According to a report published in a national
daily recently, at least 16,650 people might be displaced in
14 districts this year due to erosion only by the Jamuna and
Padma rivers at 38 points stretching over 145 kilometers of
river bank.
According to a statistics, every year about 2.5 lakh people
fall victim to river erosion which causes damage to properties
to the tune of Taka one thousand crore. Erosion is the most
important cause behind the widespread rural poverty as many
solvent people are rendered destitute by devastating erosion.
During the last rainy season also, river erosion played havoc
with land and homesteads at different places of northern,
central and southern zone of the country. The erosion of the
Brahmatputra, some of its tributaries and the Jamuna have
taken a devastating turn causing heavy damages to land, roads,
homesteads, schools, madrasas and properties in the northern
region. The mighty Padma in the central zone eroded its banks
in Faridpur, Shariapur and Munshiganj areas. This year also a
number of localities with huge agricultural land and
homesteads have been devoured by erosion in Faridpur and
Shariatpur and elsewhere rendering thousands of people
homeless.
The erosion victims across the country are passing days in
endless miseries as they have lost their land, crops and
shelters. Many of the victims have virtually nothing to
sustain and they are forced to stream to the cities for
shelter and livelihood. The government should on emergency
basis provide relief for them and arrange for their
rehabilitation on humanitarian ground. The government declared
river erosion as national calamity in 1993 and budgetary
allocations have also been made to tackle this problem. In the
given circumstances, the allocations should be increased and
efforts intensified to combat this national calamity, because
it is causing major harm to the people and the national
economy.
Analysis
The dubious pardon
It seems that Mr Zardari's effort to become
president was less to serve the country and more to serve
himself. So a consensus is building that there should be more
prerequisites for presidential candidature than the existing
ones.
Dr Qaisar Rashid
Article
45 of the Constitution says that the president has the
authority to grant pardons, reprieves and respite, and to
remit, suspend or commute any sentence passed by any court,
tribunal or other authority.
So where is the problem? Perhaps, in Rehman Malik, the
minister for interior, who was granted a pardon by President
Asif Ali Zardari hours after the Lahore High Court upheld
Malik's sentence to three years' imprisonment for being an
absconder. Malik was on bail.
The ensuing furore was less on the invocation of the article
and more on the intent to invoke it: instead of using the
instrument of discretion to grant pardon in a special case
where there is no other remedy available, President Zardari
resorted to employing his constitutional powers to save the
skin of his friend, to whom several legal remedies were
available.
Secondly, by so doing, the president set another example of
favouritism: a constitutional power that should be used in
public interest was used to bail out a political ally.
Why is there widespread abhorrence against the president, who
was duly elected by an overwhelming majority of the
legislators? According to the anti-pardon school of thought,
it is because of the type of democracy being practised in
Pakistan and the NRO.
The document which hastened the birth of the present system
holds the potential to bring it down prematurely. Moreover, if
there were a genuine opposition, the government would have
fallen by now.
But the point is: why, in the first place, was an NRO
beneficiary allowed to get elected as president of Pakistan?
It seems that Nawaz Sharif and his Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz),
which has confined itself to being a friendly opposition, own
that mistake.
The camaraderie between the leaders of the two main political
parties may not be only owing to the pains shared by them in
exile but also because of the presence of a common enemy, Gen
Pervez Musharraf. Now it's Musharraf's turn to be in
self-imposed exile while he waits in the wings to reassert
himself politically. It may be a premonition of that happening
which compelled the prime minister to make peace overtures
with the judiciary and reaffirm his government's cooperation
with it. Gilani also took Nawaz Sharif into confidence.
That gave rise to speculations of formation of two groups
within the PPP-led government: hawkish and dovish.
The hawkish group is going all out to get what it seeks while
the doves yearn for reconciliation. Babar Awan seems to belong
to the former group and Gilani to the latter.
The anti-pardon school of thought also believes that Zardari's
granting the pardon to the interior minister was tantamount to
forestalling the court, as Malik had not reached the end of
the legal course.
As to why Malik feared the Supreme Court itself, one reason
may be that the act of granting pardon was a reflection of
mistrust that has grown between the government (the
legislature and the executive) and the judiciary.
The government is not leaving any space for the judiciary to
pounce on it. This is the fear that might have prevented Malik
from appearing before the Supreme Court seeking a pardon.
Safety first is the principle Malik opted to follow, or was
advised to follow.
The anti-pardon school of thought also asserts that the pardon
granted by the president was in recognition of the services
Malik had rendered to the leadership of the PPP in the past.
They see the pardon as a gift of a friend to another friend
and a tantalising reminder to those in the PPP ranks who
disagree with the president. Further, the pardon is not just a
recognition of the past efforts of Rehman Malik but an
investment in the future.
Perhaps, the leaderships of both the PPP and the PML-N have
now a shared belief in that the past might visit the future.
It seems that the whole system is vacillating between two
issues: presidential immunity and presidential pardon. People
have started raising questions about the honesty of the
decisions. In other words, it is not the Constitution but the
public sense of probity which is militating against the
success of presidential immunity and presidential pardon. That
trend is something ominous for the PPP leadership, and it is
not a matter to be taken lightly.
People question why the influential and powerful classes of
Pakistani society always get away with corruption.
It seems that Mr Zardari's effort to become president was less
to serve the country and more to serve himself. So a consensus
is building that there should be more prerequisites for
presidential candidature than the existing ones.
The government seems oblivious to the fact that it is
difficult for the Supreme Court to budge from its
anti-corruption stance.
Hence, the confrontation is the logical sequel if the PPP
hawks stay stubborn and present a monolithic front in favour
of both the NRO and the Swiss court cases.
The government needs to practise some degree of honesty to set
the future course right. It is better late than never.
The writer is a freelance contributor. Email: qaisarrashid@yahoo.com
Rip van
Winkle in Washington!
The political right got moral, financial and material
support, culminating in promoting jihad in Afghanistan.
The groups of moderates, progressives, and the Left were
left out as untouchables.
Naeem Tahir
This
time 'Rip van Winkle' has not woken up in the Catskill
Mountains of New York as the fairytale goes. He has now
woken up in Washington DC because of a 'Dumb Shahzad' from
New York. I am not referring to the author of the
fairytale, Mr Washington Irving. I am referring to a
distinguished correspondent of The Washington Post. He has
woken up to notice that there is a "jihadi network among
the elite" in Pakistan and elsewhere.
If our new Rip van Winkle (as the friendly Americans may
like to call him) opens his eyes wider, he may find that
the 'network' is also beyond Pakistan.
The shock came to Rip van Winkle from one Dumb Shahzad who
made a failed terrorist attempt to blow up a vehicle in
Times Square. This failure in the dangerous 'activity'
game was the best thing that could have happened. New York
police did an appropriate job and Dumb Shahzad was
promptly apprehended while attempting to escape.
Then the story unfolded. Dumb Shahzad is the son of a
retired air force officer. He had sympathisers in a
leading catering company of Islamabad through a
well-educated 'US qualified' person, and there were other
links. It was also noted that the halo of connections
included individuals of American, Pakistani and other
origins. It is, indeed, a very sad story.
Those who suffer most as a consequence are Pakistanis and
the most irritated and shocked are the members of the US
government.
Let us admit that, as a free nation, it is the prime
responsibility of the people of Pakistan and its
leaderships to develop a nation with the mindset of
moderation. Our failure should be admitted. Let this be
made clear that the Americans, perceived to be a friendly
nation for a long time, also failed in areas where they
could have helped.
Pakistan achieved its freedom in 1947 and the key address
of Quaid-e-Azam, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, clearly identified
the direction for the Constituent Assembly to follow. Let
us recall that key message: "You are free; you are free to
go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or
to any other place of worship in this state of Pakistan.
You may belong to any religion or caste or creed - that
has nothing to do with the business of the state."
In the same speech, the great leader pointed out other
important actions that needed to be taken, e.g. against
corruption, bribery, black marketing, nepotism, jobbery,
religious and ethnic discrimination, and he stressed the
importance of support to the poor. In the years after
demise of Quaid-e-Azam, none of his advices was to be
followed and the state was to be made 'religious' instead
of a 'nation' state.
So Rip van Winkle needs to understand that the process of
moving towards the extreme right has been going on since
then. Also, if any encouragement has been given by the
decision makers in Washington, it has been given to the
elements of extreme right, not moderates or leftists in
Pakistan.
The support also came to the establishment, which has been
predominantly rightist. Was it so because of the fear of
communism? Was it because of the phobia perpetuated by
McCarthyism?
It is too late to determine the reasons because the damage
has been done.
For a long time our armed forces have been taught to
defend the country, because it is a citadel of Islam not
just because of a nation's right to freedom. The political
right got moral, financial and material support,
culminating in promoting jihad in Afghanistan.
The groups of moderates, progressives, and the Left were
left out as untouchables. A social imbalance continued and
rightist elite emerged.
For this, Pakistani people are responsible but the Western
powers have some share of responsibility too, as this new
nation looked towards them for support and direction.
Now where is the justification for the 'surprise' that our
Rip van Winkle in Washington has expressed? Has the
present state of affairs not been arrived at with its
covert and overt collusion with our extreme right? I
repeat that the prime responsibility of building a
moderate society is of the Pakistanis themselves, but
looking at the ground realities of the need for
international support, I also understand the inherent
weakness of our decision makers to compromise for the sake
of security and financial viability.
Now that our friend Rip van Winkle in Washington has
tasted the bitter fruit of history, it is important that
the strategy is reviewed immediately. The only way forward
for Pakistan is to encourage moderation, progressive
thought and tolerance.
The nations do that by promoting quality education, visual
and performing arts, preserving cultural heritage,
improving technical and scientific skills, supporting
equality in gender, cast and creed, and so on. To me, it
seems that we all need to 'do more', much more in fact.
The support committed by the world must determine these
priorities. Otherwise the frustration will continue to
generate anger, which will continue to be destructive for
us and the world.
The anger has little opportunity to sublimate and become
constructive energy. As one of the concerned persons, I
feel that the failed 'activity' of Dumb Shahzad should be
read as a message for an improved strategy and better
employment of indigenous and borrowed resources toward
more constructive ends.
If, by any chance, the Dumb Shahzad incident has been
'manufactured' like some others, for Pakistan's
arm-twisting, and to force it to take immediate action
against North Waziristan Taliban groups, then the intent
is not right. Pakistan's armed forces and the government
must decide the timing. Priority must be given to
consolidation of gains from operations Rah-e-Rast and
Rah-e-Nijat before taking the next step.
Naeem Tahir is a culture and media management
specialist, a researcher, author, director and actor. He
can be reached at naeemtahir37@gmail.com
Viewpoints
China
holds the key to peace
Beijing must
cast aside its softly-softly approach to Pyongyang if it wants
to become a major world power.
Con Coughlin
Even
by the standards of the military clashes that have become a
perennial feature of life on the Korean peninsula, the sinking
of a South Korean warship by a North Korean mini-submarine
marks an alarming, and potentially catastrophic, escalation in
tensions between the two countries.
Whether the North Koreans are made to suffer the consequences
of their involvement in the Cheonan disaster will depend on
proving that the attack was premeditated, as opposed to being
a catastrophic error of judgment. At present, western military
experts are leaning to the view that the commander of the
North Korean vessel panicked under pressure and launched the
torpedoes without considering the consequences of his action.
"It is easy to imagine a scenario where a submarine commander
believes he is about to come under attack and gives the order
to fire," said a senior military intelligence officer. "Both
navies are operating in a highly volatile area where the
slightest wrong move by either side might be misinterpreted as
a provocative act."
Unstable
But then, given the unstable nature of the North Korean
regime, it is equally feasible that for some bizarre reason
the attack was launched on the orders of Pyongyang.
During the 1980s, when Kim Jong-il, the North Korean leader,
was in the process of negotiating his own rise to power, the
North Koreans were involved in a series of terrorist attacks
on South Korea, which were undertaken to demonstrate Kim's
allegiance to the North Korean cause. These included a bomb
attack on a South Korean delegation undertaking an official
visit to Burma, as well as the bombing of the Korean Air
flight.
A new succession battle is now said to be taking place in
Pyongyang amid a flurry of reports that the 69-year-old Kim
Jong-il is suffering from bad health. In 2008 "the Great
Leader", as he is known throughout the country, was reported
to have suffered a cerebral haemorrhage and lost the use of
some of his limbs. The country's reclusive dictator is said to
have made a partial recovery, to the extent that earlier this
month he made an official visit to China, where he is
understood to have discussed North Korea's economic plight, as
well as Chinese approval for his plans to hand power over to
Kim Jong-un, his third and youngest son.
But Kim Jong-il's plans for the succession have attracted
opposition, not least from Chang Sung-taek, the dictator's
brother-in-law, who harbours ambitions of his own to assume
leadership.
In order to cement the younger Kim's power base and control of
the army, it is possible that Pyongyang could have authorised
a fresh round of attacks on South Korean targets, which
resulted in the torpedo attack on the Cheonan.
Whether the Cheonan was the result of a grave military error,
or a casualty of renewed political in-fighting in Pyongyang,
the challenge for South Korea and its allies now is how best
to respond to the provocation. Seoul has promised retaliatory
measures, and is pressing the United Nations Security Council
to respond following the publication of an independent report
which concluded that a North Korean torpedo was responsible
for the sinking of the Cheonan.
Resistance
Any attempt by the UN to punish Pyongyang for its role in the
Cheonan affair would inevitably meet with resistance from
China, the regime's regional protector.
For years, China has advocated a softly-softly approach to
North Korea in the vain hope that Pyongyang could be persuaded
to follow China's own transition from cultish despotism to
economic reform. China will now argue that tough action
against North Korea could further destabilise a regime that is
already suffering from economic meltdown.
This may well be the case, but if China has serious
pretensions to becoming a major world power, then it needs to
bring all its influence to bear on the North Korean regime to
ensure that there is no recurrence of the Cheonan disaster.
China is the only country that can exercise real influence on
the Kim clan.
Beijing's recent decision to back a new UN resolution for
sanctions against Iran demonstrates that China is slowly
waking up to the global responsibilities that go with being
one of the world's leading powers. Now it must do the same
with North Korea in order to prevent any escalation in
hostilities.
Holiday in
the ‘axis of evil’
A sign in one
of the airport departure lounges sums up the odd mixture
of political hostility and private friendliness that
shapes US-Iran relations. “This revolution is not
recognised anywhere in the world without the name of Imam
Khomeini,” it says. “Have a nice trip.”
Stephen Kinzer
You
are American?" a surprised Iranian asked me as I sat down
near him in a restaurant famous for eggplant and
pomegranate stews. "How did you get a visa?"
Ever since 2002, when US President George W. Bush named
Iran a member of the world's anti-American "Axis of Evil"
- or perhaps since the Islamic Revolution of 1979 and the
searing hostage crisis that followed - the idea that
American tourists would visit Iran has seemed to border on
the bizarre. Yet an adventurous few do come, and most find
a welcome far beyond what they had imagined.
In no other country is there such an imbalance between the
wealth of tourist attractions and the dearth of tourists.
If Iran were a fully open country, sites like the
awe-inspiring ruins at Persepolis or the dazzling mosques
of Isfahan would be jammed with visitors from around the
world. Instead they are all but empty, offering visitors
one of the world's richest travel experiences.
During a two-week trip through Iran in May, I ran across
groups of intrepid travellers at almost every stop. All
marveled at what they saw.
"It's great to be here before the crowds come," Jamie
Whittington, who came with a tour group from California,
said as she surveyed an ancient Zoroastrian "tower of
silence," where corpses were once placed on ceremonial
slabs for vultures to consume. "This place is waiting to
be discovered."
In the lobby of a Tehran hotel, I met an 81-year-old woman
from Berkeley who said that when she told friends she was
travelling to Iran, "they thought I had a screw loose."
"My husband was more nervous than I was, and he called the
State Department to ask their opinion," she said. "They
told him that the two governments don't get along, but
Americans are welcome in Iran. I was impressed that the
State Department would say that." According to reports in
the American press, US intelligence agencies are engaged
in covert operations against Iran. Perhaps as a result,
tourists who come here are not allowed to roam freely.
They must travel in groups, engage Iranian guides and
stick to established tourist sites.
The variety of sites on the approved list is rich and
varied. I met a tour guide from New Zealand, Harry
McQuillan, who had just taken his group on a trip through
the Zagros Mountains that culminated in a festive tribal
wedding.
"When people in New Zealand think of Iran, they think of
oil, desert and Arabs," he told me. "They are absolutely
astounded when they get here."
Americans have the same reaction, compounded by their
amazement at how warmly they are greeted. Iranians love to
approach foreigners, and when they hear the phrase "We are
American," they often shriek with delight.
"We are so happy to see American people in Iran," a woman
in Kirman, beaming with joy, told the group I travelled
with. "We know they say very bad things about us there,
but we like Americans so much."
In recent years, the Iranian authorities have worked to
improve the tourist experience. New hotels have been built
and old ones have been renovated. Few are up to
international standards, though, and travelling here still
requires some adjustments.
Women, including female tourists, must wear head scarves
at all times. Few restaurants offer anything other than
kebabs and stew. Signs at many sites are in Farsi only.
Economic sanctions have made US-issued credit cards
useless in all but a few places.
"I took a group of Iranians to Singapore and Malaysia
recently," one Iranian tour guide told me. "Those are nice
places, but their tourist sites are almost nothing
compared to what we have in Iran. But what little they
have, they display and protect and promote much better
than we do. They have first-class hotels. Everything a
tourist could possibly want is at your fingertips. Iran
has more to offer tourists than almost any other country
in the world, but our infrastructure isn't up to world
standards."
Countries seeking to raise their tourism standards often
launch joint ventures with American or European hotel
chains and tour operators accustomed to serving
Westerners. Because Iran is under economic sanctions and
faces political uncertainty, however, many potential
partners shy away from investing here. That will likely
remain the case until Iran strikes some kind of broad
political deal with the US and the European Union.
Slightly more than 2 million tourists visited Iran last
year - a tiny number compared to the 25 million who
visited neighbouring Turkey, pumping more than $20 billion
into the Turkish economy. Most come from the US and
Europe. Fewer are coming this year, partly as a result of
fears sparked by the violent protests that followed last
June's disputed election. One hotel alone, the Shiraz Homa,
reported 2,000 cancellations as news of the protests
spread around the world.
"People in other countries turn on their televisions and
they see people getting shot in Iran, so they're afraid to
come here," said a young man who is studying tourism
planning at Tehran University. But John Woods, a professor
of Middle East studies at the University of Chicago, who
led an archeology-focused tour here in May, said the
undercurrent of political tension intrigues some
outsiders.
"There's a kind of deadly fascination about what's going
on here," he said. "The very fact that it seems somewhat
dangerous and iffy is part of what appeals to some
people."
The danger of visiting Iran, though, exists only in the
minds of people who make assumptions about this country
without visiting. Janet Moore, director of the California
travel agency Distant Horizons, said that in her 10 years
of organising tours to Iran, "not a single one of my
tourists has ever had a problem." Travellers I met here,
without exception, bubbled over with enthusiasm.
"I was very surprised - by the sights, the people and the
level of development," said Huguette Combs, a
Swiss-American who lives in San Francisco. "I was also
expecting more of a police presence. There's hardly any as
far as I can tell. It's an eye-opener to me."
The director of a Tehran travel agency said years of
violence in neighboring Iraq and Afghanistan have scared
many tourists away.
"People don't know that Iran is a very safe island in this
region," he said. "As long as there is instability in our
region, we're going to have this problem. Another problem
is our image. Every day something comes up about Iran, and
it's mostly negative. We haven't done much to introduce
Iran to the world. People don't know about Iran, which is
partly our fault. When they learn what Iran really is,
this country is going to be packed with tourists. I'm very
optimistic about this. It's going to happen."
A sign in one of the airport departure lounges sums up the
odd mixture of political hostility and private
friendliness that shapes US-Iran relations. "This
revolution is not recognised anywhere in the world without
the name of Imam Khomeini," it says. "Have a nice trip."
Stephen Kinzer, author of the new book "Reset: Iran,
Turkey and America's Future," has just left Iran, where he
had a rare glimpse inside the country at a time when many
correspondents are being denied journalist visas
www.globalpost.com
EU struggles to convince markets in
euro crisis
A task force set up by EU President Herman Van Rompuy has
given itself several months to make proposals, reinforcing
the view that the EU cannot act swiftly.
Timothy Heritage
Institutions
and leaders ill-equipped to handle a crisis of this
magnitude. Three weeks after it agreed a $1 trillion
safety net to protect the euro, the European Union is
struggling to convince financial markets it has got what
it takes to save the currency.
Since the safety net was agreed early on May 10 to appease
markets worried that Greece's debt problems could be
contagious, countries such as Spain, Italy and Portugal
have announced austerity plans to head off any crisis.
But new divisions, above all a rift between Germany and
nearly all the other 26 member states, have renewed doubts
about the EU's ability to unite behind the painful reforms
needed to hold the 16-country euro area together.
Concerns are also growing because Belgium is unlikely to
have a government in place when it takes over the EU
presidency on July 1 and markets are worried the EU's
institutions and leaders are ill-equipped to handle a
crisis of this magnitude.
"We are at a crossroads today. Either we take determined
and joint action for Europe's economic and political
revival or we face economic stagnation and political
irrelevance," EU Economic and Monetary Affairs
Commissioner Olli Rehn said this week.
It would be easy to assume such apocalyptic visions would
reassure markets that the EU has grasped the gravity of
the situation. But a decline in the value of the euro and
falls on stock markets this month suggest otherwise.
A ban imposed by Germany last week on certain financial
transactions to quell the market "speculators" it blames
for the euro's problems has caused particular alarm.
Berlin compounded the problem by saying this week it would
extend to other transactions its ban on some naked short
selling - the sale of financial instruments without first
borrowing the security or ensuring it can be borrowed.
"This is the worst possible message they could be sending
the markets because it suggests they are still not
acknowledging what the underlying problem here is," said
Simon Tilford, chief economist at the Center for European
Reform think-tank.
"Far from reassuring the market and stabilizing market
sentiment, this will further undermine confidence in the
ability of euro zone governments and policymakers to get
on top of the crisis. It will aggravate the situation
further." Germany has, with France, long been the engine
driving the EU toward closer political and economic
coordination. That is changing because German taxpayers
now fear they will have to bail out one profligate euro
zone member after another.
In efforts to satisfy a public that seems less pro-Europe
than in the past, the German government has become
isolated in Europe and faces a battle with the executive
European Commission over reforms of the budget rules that
govern the EU.
Germany says the Commission's plans do not go far enough
and has made its own nine-point proposal, leading to
unusually bitter squabbles with Brussels. European
Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso described
Germany's calls to change the EU treaty to enact reforms
as "naive" this week, using unusually tough language to
criticize the most powerful member state.
Chancellor Angela Merkel may have won over some of her
domestic critics, and has shown she wants to shake the EU
into action by taking a tough stance on the budget rules,
but she has alienated her EU partners and upset the
markets.
"This has obviously created instability on the markets
because markets do not really like Germany acting on its
own.
They would much rather there is an agreement across the EU,"
Sharon Bowles, head of the European Parliament's economic
and monetary affairs committee, said.
Germany's spat with the Commission, and increasingly with
France, augurs badly for prospects of a quick agreement on
reforms to boost growth, reduce unemployment and make the
flagging European economies more competitive.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy hardly helped Merkel by
declaring the May 10 agreement a victory for France.
"If this Germany bashing continues, Germany will become an
even more problematic actor in EU politics and it will be
harder to find compromises in the EU," said Janis
Emmanouilidis of the European Policy Center think-tank.
"You won't get the old Germany back. You need to
accommodate this new player, this changed player." Rehn
said this week the failure to carry out tough reforms
could set Europe back a decade.
He said average annual growth in EU output would be at
best around 1.5 percent, instead of the target of more
than 2 percent, and unemployment would be 7 to 8 percent
instead of the target of about 3 percent by the end of the
decade.
Investors are also concerned it will take months to agree
on the reforms and that they will either prompt labor
unrest in some countries or be watered down during
negotiations because of fears they could cause strikes.
A task force set up by EU President Herman Van Rompuy has
given itself several months to make proposals, reinforcing
the view that the EU cannot act swiftly.
The fall of Belgium's government, and the likelihood that
lengthy coalition talks will prevent it forming a
government quickly after the June 13 election, also
complicates matters.
The impact of this may be limited by the fact that Spain,
which holds the presidency until June 30, has often seemed
a bystander during the euro zone crisis and the big member
states are likely to continue to pay the lead roles in the
crisis.
Spain's government has also had to focus on its own
economic problems. It won Parliament's approval for its
austerity plan by only one vote on Thursday and talks with
business and unions on overhauling rigid labor laws are
going badly.
International
Manmohan, Obama
discuss global, regional issues
Indian Express
Ahead of the first-ever strategic dialogue between their
countries, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and US President
Barack Obama had a telephonic conversation on Friday
evening during which the two leaders discussed regional
and global issues of mutual interest.
"The two leaders discussed the forthcoming strategic
dialogue between the two countries scheduled next week in
Washington," said a statement from the Prime Minister's
Office, adding that both the sides attach great priority
to the dialogue as a means to strengthen bilateral
engagement on a wide range of issues including high
technology trade, science and technology, civil nuclear
cooperation, agriculture, human resource development,
security and other strategic issues.
Foreign Minister S M Krishna will lead a high-level
delegation comprising several Cabinet ministers to
Washington where the strategic dialogue is scheduled from
June 1 to 4. The US delegation would be headed by
Krishna's counterpart, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
The other Cabinet ministers will have separate bilateral
meetings with their respective counterparts. Amongst the
items high on agenda is India's request for removal of
many of its scientific institutions belonging to the
Department of Atomic Energy or Indian Space Research
Organisation from an Entities' List maintained by US
authorities. Institutions included on this list require
special authorisation to import dual-use high-technology
items from the US.
The telephonic conversation between Singh and Obama comes
just a day after the United States unveiled its National
Security Strategy for this year that identified India as
one of the "key centres of influence" and called for
building a "strategic partnership" with New Delhi.
Pakistan, Iran sign
gas pipeline accord
Dawn Online, Islamabad
Pakistan and Iran signed on Friday an agreement for supply
of gas from Iran through the $7.5 billion pipeline project
to be completed by the end of 2014. The cost for the
Pakistan section of the project is estimated at $1.65
billion.
The 'sovereign guarantee' agreement was signed by S.R.
Kasaezadeh, Managing Director of the National Iranian Oil
Company, and Irshad Kaleemi, Joint Secretary of the
Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources. Petroleum
Minister Naveed Qamar and Secretary Kamran Lashari
attended the signing ceremony.
Under the gas sale and purchase agreement (GSPA), Pakistan
will import 750 million cubic feet a day (mmcfd) with a
provision to increase it to one billion cubic feet a day (bcfd).
The volume of imported gas will be about 20 per cent of
Pakistan's current gas production and the agreement is for
a period of 25 years, renewable for another five years.
The gas will be provided to the power sector to generate
about 5,000 megawatts of electricity.
As a part of the conditions precedent (CPs) to be
completed by the parties to make the agreement effective,
the government of Pakistan is providing a 'performance
guarantee' on behalf of the InterState Gas Company. Since
all other CPs of the agreement have been completed, the
project is ready to enter the implementation phase.
The petroleum minister said that construction of the
pipeline would create jobs, provide vocational training
and develop backward areas of Balochistan and Sindh.
"The IP project will be another testimony of the long
historic and cordial relations between Pakistan and Iran,"
Mr Qamar said.
Indian government feels
Maoist heat
AFP, New Delhi
Outrage over the latest in a series of deadly attacks by
Maoist rebels will ramp up pressure on India's government,
already facing calls to deploy the military against the
rebels, analysts say.
Federal authorities had been severely criticised for their
handling of the insurgency even before Friday's disaster
when a high-speed train packed with sleeping passengers
was derailed on a remote stretch of track in West Bengal.
More than 90 bodies have been pulled from the wreckage,
amid fears that as many as 70 more could still be trapped
in the mangled carriages.
Stepped-up attacks in recent months had forced a review of
the government's counter-insurgency strategy, with Home
Minister P. Chidambaram saying he would seek a firmer
mandate for dealing with the rebel threat.
Until now, the government has resisted pressure to bring
the army into the equation, insisting that paramilitary
and state police forces were capable of flushing the
Maoists out of their jungle bases. "A cornerstone of
India's democracy has been not to use its military against
its own people," said Mallika Joseph, a Maoist expert from
the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies in New Delhi.
"But there is a growing clamour to get the military
involved and the government is going to feel the pressure
to pursue a more aggressive option," Joseph said.
"That means all ongoing social development initiatives
could be put on the back burner," she added.
Decades of official neglect of tribespeople and farmers in
some of India's most impoverished regions has been
credited with swelling the ranks of the Maoists.
Their insurgency, which started as a peasant movement in
1967, has spread to 20 of 29 Indian states, especially the
so-called "Red Corridor" covering Jharkhand, West Bengal,
Orissa, Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh. India's
Congress party-led government budgeted 661 billion rupees
(14.6 billion dollars) for rural development in the
current financial year, which officials hoped might help
erode grass-roots support for the Maoists.
U.S. out to make China feel
awkward, says North Korea
Reuters, Seoul
North Korea said the United States was blaming it for
sinking a South Korean warship in order to keep a U.S.
Marine base in Japan and make China, the North's only
major ally, feel "awkward".
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, South Korean President Lee
Myung-bak and Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama are
meeting on South Korea's Jeju island on Saturday and
escalating tension on the Korean peninsula will certainly
be high on the agenda.
The United States and South Korea have accused North Korea
of the March 26 sinking of the Cheonan, in which 46 South
Korean sailors die. But China, eager not to upset
stability on the Korean peninsula, has not apportioned
blame.
The mounting antagonism between the two Koreas has
unnerved investors, worried the confrontation could erupt
into conflict. Many analysts say that neither side is
ready to go to war but warn more skirmishes may lie ahead,
especially along their disputed sea border off the west
coast.
"The U.S. secretary of state (Hillary Clinton) let loose a
spate of sheer lies to brand the DPRK as the chief culprit
of the warship sinking during her junkets to Japan, China
and south Korea," the KCNA news agency quoted the North
Korean Foreign Ministry as saying.
DPRK stands for North Korea's official name, the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea. In English, KCNA
refers to "south" Korea, with no capital "S", as it
considers it part of the DPRK, not a separate country.
Thai PM lifts curfew but
casts doubt on 2010 poll
AFP, Bangkok
Thailand's premier said Saturday it would be hard to hold
elections this year as he lifted a curfew imposed across
about one third of the country in the wake of deadly
anti-government protests.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said however that there
was no plan yet to revoke emergency rule following two
months of mass rallies by the "Red Shirts" that left
almost 90 people dead in a series of clashes with troops.
The protesters were campaigning for snap elections to oust
the government and Abhisit had proposed November polls in
a bid to end the rally, but he shelved the plan because
demonstrators refused to disperse.
"Obviously it's a lot more difficult now to have elections
before the end of the year because the November date was
set with the (idea of) protesters joining the plan right
from the start," Abhisit told a press conference.
But he added that he was not ruling out early elections,
hours after he lifted the curfew imposed 10 days earlier
across parts of the country, including Bangkok, to quell
violent civil unrest.
The British-born, Oxford-educated head of the
establishment Democrat Party does not have to go to the
polls until the end of next year.
He said Saturday that if all parties involved, including
the Reds, joined the peace process and over the next few
months the government and parliament functioned smoothly
"then that would be the right time" to hold polls.
The Reds' street rallies, which were broken up by the army
after two months on May 19, paralysed central Bangkok and
sparked several outbreaks of violence that left 88 people
dead, mostly civilians, and nearly 1,900 injured.
Protest leaders surrendered after armoured vehicles backed
by troops firing live rounds smashed through towering
barricades around their sprawling base, angering militant
demonstrators who set dozens of buildings ablaze.
Nepal PM agrees to resign
to avert crisis
AFP, Kathmandu
Nepal's prime minister has agreed to resign, his spokesman
said Saturday, as the country's three main parties
prepared to form a power-sharing government following a
deal to avert a political crisis.
Madhav Kumar Nepal said he would step down in a
last-minute bid to secure the support of Maoist lawmakers
for a bill to extend parliament's term, which was due to
end Friday and leave the country without a functioning
legislature. The opposition Maoist party won elections in
2008 and took power for nine months, abolishing Nepal's
240-year-old Hindu monarchy and turning the country into a
secular republic.
But their government fell last year in a disagreement over
the integration of their former fighters into the national
army, and they have been agitating for a return to power
ever since. As the largest party in parliament they are
likely to take a lead role in any power-sharing
government, but the prime minister's spokesman said there
were issues to be addressed before this could happen.
"The prime minister will meet leaders from the different
parties throughout the day to discuss how to proceed,"
Bishnu Rijal told AFP.
"He is ready to resign, there is no doubt," he said,
without giving any timeframe.
"He is not going to get in the way. But he wants to make
sure that all the outstanding issues arising from the
peace process are settled before he resigns."
These include the integration of thousands of former
Maoist fighters into the national army and the disbanding
of the party's armed youth wing, the Young Communist
League, which rival parties say is an obstacle to lasting
peace. The prime minister also wants to address the issue
of how land seized by the Maoists during the conflict will
be returned to its rightful owners, another key tenet of
the peace deal, Rijal said.
Thousands protest ‘staged’
killings in Kashmir
Agency, India
At least 28 people were hurt in Indian Kashmir on Saturday
when police fired teargas shells at thousands of
demonstrators protesting the killing of three villagers in
an alleged fake gun battle by security forces, witnesses
said.
The fresh "staged" killings could trigger widespread
protests across the Muslim-majority region where rebel
violence is waning but anti-Indian sentiment still runs
deep.
Late last month, army said its soldiers killed three
Muslim militants while trying to cross over to Indian
Kashmir from Pakistani side on Line of Control, a military
control line that divides the disputed region between two
nuclear armed rivals.
But three families in north Kashmir's Baramulla area said
the slain men were innocent relatives who had gone missing
days before the border clash.
Authorities in Kashmir on Friday ordered a probe and into
the killings and also exhumed the three bodies, which were
found to be those of the missing men, an official said.
"Army has already ordered a high level internal enquiry
into the incident to bare the facts transparently and to
bring to book anybody if found guilty," chief minister of
Jammu and Kashmir, Omar Abdullah, said in a statement.
"Allah-hu-Akbar (God is great), down with Indian forces,"
the protesters shouted, as they marched with the bodies of
slain men in Baramulla, 50 km (31 miles) north of Srinagar,
Kashmir's summer capital.
Government forces in the revolt-torn Himalayan state in
the past have been accused of murdering innocent civilians
in staged gun battles and passing them off as separatist
militants to earn rewards and promotions. Officials say
more than 47,000 people have been killed after a revolt
against Indian rule broke out in 1989. Human rights groups
put the toll at about 60,000.
Iran
hails NPT call on Israel for atomic transparency
AFP, Tehran
Iran's representative to the UN atomic watchdog on
Saturday hailed a UN nuclear non-proliferation document
calling on Israel to open its atomic facilities to
international inspection.
The accord, reached on Friday at the 2010
Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) review conference and
agreed by the NPT's 189 members, commits to holding a
regional gathering in 2012 to create a Middle East free of
nuclear weapons.
It also mentions ¨the importance of Israel's accession to
the treaty and the placement of all its nuclear facilities
under comprehensive IAEA (International Atomic Energy
Agency) safeguards.¨ The NPT called on Israel to join the
treaty, which would oblige the Jewish state to
decommission its nuclear weapons. Iran's IAEA
representative Ali Asghar Soltanieh, who attended the
conference at the United Nations, welcomed the move.
"It is a step forward in creating a world without atomic
weapons," he told the official IRNA news agency.
Israel has never ruled out taking military action against
Iran to stop its controversial programme of uranium
enrichment, maintaining an ambiguous policy over its own
atomic arsenal by neither denying nor admitting its
existence. Soltanieh told IRNA that the United States,
despite opposing the NPT text on Israel, will have to fall
in line with other countries.
"The US reservation is symbolic and it is obliged to go
along with the world's request, which is that Israel must
join the NPT and open its installations to IAEA
inspectors," he said.
On Friday, US President Barack Obama welcomed the accord
but "strongly" opposed singling Israel out over talks on a
nuclear weapons-free Middle East.
"The United States has long supported such a zone,
although our view is that a comprehensive and durable
peace in the region and full compliance by all regional
states with their arms control and non-proliferation
obligations are essential precursors for its
establishment," he said.
"We strongly oppose efforts to single out Israel, and will
oppose actions that jeopardise Israel's national
security."
Washington had opposed including in the text of the accord
the statement urging Israel to join the NPT.
Iran itself was not cited in the text, despite its
continuing defiance of successive UN resolutions calling
for the Islamic republic to halt uranium enrichment and be
more transparent about its own nuclear programme.
"The greatest threat to proliferation in the Middle East,
and to the NPT, is Iran's failure to live up to its NPT
obligations," Obama said. But Soltanieh dismissed the US
stance.
"Of course this was to be expected, since (US Secretary of
State) Hillary Clinton made such (statements) during the
inaugural session (of the NPT meeting) and several times
later," he said.
"The Americans are isolating themselves since Iran's
nuclear file is an (IAEA) agency issue. This conference
was about the NPT and its future."
Western powers led by Washington are continuing their
efforts to impose a fourth set of UN sanctions on Iran for
continuing to enrich uranium, the most controversial part
of its nuclear programme. Tehran insists that its nuclear
ambitions are entirely peaceful.
Soltanieh said that that existing atomic powers who are
NPT members prevented the accord from specifying a
deadline for global nuclear disarmament, a long-standing
Iranian demand.
"We wanted a deadline for disarmament, but the atomic
powers prevented it. We had suggested 2025 for
disarmament," he said.
Coalition hit by
minister's expense claims
Reuters, London
The new coalition government suffered a setback on Friday
when it emerged that a key member had claimed tens of
thousands of pounds in expenses for rent paid to his
long-term gay partner.
Chief Secretary to the Treasury David Laws paid more than
40,000 pounds over several years for rooms in two
properties owned by his partner, The Daily Telegraph
newspaper said in its Saturday edition.
Laws apologised and said in a statement on Friday night
that he would pay back the money. He said his motive was
not to maximise profit but to keep his nine-year
relationship with James Lundie private.
Laws is one of the most high-profile Liberal Democrats in
the rare new Conservative-Lib Dem coalition which took
power after the May 6 election. He is responsible for
introducing austere measures to tackle record peacetime
budget deficit, a process that began this week when an
initial 6.2 billion pounds of departmental savings were
announced, including cutting down on ministerial perks.
The report comes a year after the same newspaper uncovered
a parliamentary expenses scandal involving hundreds of
lawmakers from all the main parties who had claimed for
items ranging from dog food to duck houses, enraging a
public already enduring the worst recession in decades.
The expenses scandal dogged the final months of the
previous Labour government, although all parties were
affected.
Laws' claims were not uncovered during an official inquiry
because he did not reveal that his landlord was also his
partner, the paper said, adding that the claims could be
against parliamentary rules governing MPs' second home
expenses.
He also said he would pay back the money covering the
period when rules changed prohibiting payments to partners
and referred himself to the Parliamentary Standards
Commissioner.
"James and I are intensely private people. We made the
decision to keep our relationship private and believed
that was our right. Clearly that cannot now remain the
case," he said. "My motivation throughout has not been to
maximise profit but to simply protect our privacy and my
wish not to reveal my sexuality.
"However, I regret this situation deeply, accept that I
should not have claimed my expenses in this way and
apologise fully."
Prime Minister David Cameron was aware of the situation
and agreed with Laws' decision to refer himself to the
parliamentary watchdog, a spokesman for the premier said
in a statement.
Iraq's al-Maliki says he's
only party PM nominee
AP, Baghdad
Iraq's prime minister said Saturday he is the only nominee
from his political party to run the nation's next
government, rejecting suggestions of a consensus candidate
to satisfy those concerned about his leadership.
Nouri al-Maliki's comments revealed an unwillingness to
budge in negotiations with his Shiite partners over
forming Iraq's likely next government despite a process
that has dragged on in the nearly three months since the
March 7 election left the country without a clear winner.
Other Shiite political groups and religious leaders whose
support al-Maliki is depending on have been lukewarm at
best about him remaining in the job.
Asked by reporters if his State of Law political coalition
would compromise on a candidate to satisfy the concerns,
al-Maliki said there is "only one nominee to be a prime
minister." "No, the State of Law insists on its
candidate," al-Maliki told reporters in the city of Najaf.
It was clear he was talking about himself.
Al-Maliki's State of Law coalition came in second in the
election behind a coalition backed by Iraq's minority
Sunnis. But no single group won an outright majority,
making a coalition government necessary.
The prime minister's party has joined up with the
religious Shiite Iraqi National Alliance in hopes of
capturing enough seats in parliament to run the next
government.
The leader of one of the two main political parties that
make up the alliance, powerful Shiite cleric Ammar
al-Hakim, has said he does not believe al-Maliki has
enough Iraqi or international support to remain prime
minister.
China seeks India's
reassurance on Tibet issue
ANI, Beijing
China once again sought India's reiteration on the
'contentious' Tibet issue that Indian soil will not be
allowed to be used for anti-China protest. On Friday, Jia
Qinglin, Chairman of the Chinese People"s Political
Consultative Conference (CPPCC), during his meeting with
visiting Indian President Pratibha Devisingh Patil sought
this assurance.
Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said that the outcome of
President Patil's visit has been very positive and both
the sides have clearly stated their desire to take the
60th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic
relationship between India and China, as starting point to
further build their partnership.
"Now it often happens between course of interaction
between India and China that all issues are raised and
this, as you know, is a complex relationship and there are
many issues on which the two sides have tried to elucidate
each other's position and sought greater awareness of each
other's concern," Ms. Rao said.
"And, it was in this context that issue of Tibet also came
up during the President's meeting with Chairman of the
Chinese People"s Political Consultative Conference Jia
Qinglin. The issue came up during the course of
conversation and Chinese side sought to know reiteration
of our position that we see Tibet as part of China," she
said.
Ms. Rao added the Indian President assured the Chinese
leadership that: "We do not permit any anti-China
activities by any Tibetans on the soil of India and it was
what they (Chinese) wanted to be assured of."
The President cited the example of the passage of the
Olympic torch through India ahead of the Beijing Olympics
two years ago when the Indian government ensured that
nothing untoward happens.
France, UK mark 70th anniversary of
Dunkirk evacuation
AFP, Dunkirk
France and Britain on Saturday marked the 70th anniversary
of the Dunkirk evacuation, a pivotal rescue of Allied
troops by a ragtag band of boats, but a veteran's death
marred the events.
Some 50 surviving veterans of the some 338,000 troops
plucked to safety from the beaches, from Britain, Belgium,
the Czech Republic and France, paid tribute to their
fallen comrades at the commemoration in the northern
French seaport.
One French veteran of the operation, Andre Carlier, 91,
suffered a heart attack while attending the ceremony and
later died, the city's mayor said. His death was a
reminder of the dwindling number of those remaining who
lived through the Dunkirk evacuation, which followed the
Allies' devastating defeat by invading German forces.
A French military band played as the commemoration
attended by senior civilian and military officials took
place on the beach that was the site of the 1940 rescue
and where a monument now stands.
About 60 of the boats-known as the "little ships"-that
participated in the evacuation were just off the coast
during the ceremony after having re-enacted their journey
from southern England to Dunkirk on Thursday.
The evacuation "represents an example of courage and
professionalism," said Admiral Pierre-Francois Forissier,
current head of the French navy. "It is an example that
shows to young people that even when all seems lost,
anything is possible," he said.
The hastily arranged fleet of about 700 vessels, ranging
from pleasure craft to fishing boats and paddle steamers
and lifeboats, worked under a hail of German bombs between
May 27 and June 4, 1940 to take the troops off the beaches
and ferry them to larger ships or back to Britain.
Operation Dynamo enabled the British to fight another day
and provided their country with a source of pride in the
face of extreme adversity. For Britons, the phrase
"Dunkirk spirit" still sums up defiant courage.
Wartime prime minister Winston Churchill called it a
"miracle of deliverance" and the evacuation, followed a
few months later by the Battle of Britain, is seen as one
of the events that determined the outcome of the war. On
Friday, a commemoration was held for victims of the La
Plaine au Bois massacre, when about 100 British soldiers
who had run out of ammunition and surrendered were locked
in a barn. More than 80 Welsh and other British troops,
along with one French soldier, were killed by German SS
forces either by grenades thrown into the barn or by
machine gun fire.
Flotilla bound for Gaza
delayed, loses key members
AP, Jerusalem
Ships carrying 10,000 tons of supplies and hundreds of
pro-Palestinian activists to blockaded Gaza were being
held up near Cyprus on Saturday, as organizers tried to
get nearly two dozen high-profile supporters on board. The
flotilla was to set sail toward Gaza on Saturday
afternoon, in any event, and approach the territory on
Sunday, about 24 hours behind schedule, said Greta Berlin,
one of the activists.
A showdown with the Israeli navy appeared inevitable.
Israel's deputy foreign minister, Danny Ayalon, reiterated
Saturday that the ships would be intercepted, denouncing
the sea convoy as a provocation and violation of maritime
laws. Israel and Egypt imposed a blockade on Gaza after
the Islamic militant Hamas seized the territory by force
three years ago.
In Gaza, Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas said the
flotilla signals the end of the blockade.
"If the ships reach Gaza, it's a victory for Gaza,"
Haniyeh told some 400 supporters after touring Gaza City's
small fishing harbor, where several smaller vessels
breaking the blockade have docked in the past. "If they
are intercepted and terrorized by the Zionists, it will be
a victory for Gaza, too, and they will move again in new
ships to break the siege of Gaza."
In Cyprus, organizers were trying to find a way to have
two dozen would-be passengers, including 19 European
legislators and an elderly Holocaust survivor, join the
ships anchored in international waters off the island. The
Cypriot government did not allow smaller boats to carry
the group to the flotilla, Berlin said.
Authorities in Cyprus said the decision was made to
protect the island's "vital interests" - including
economic ties with Israel.
Organizers then appealed to the Turkish government to get
the group out via a Turkish-controlled northern Cyprus
port. Turkish Cypriot officials have said they want to
help the group as much as they can.
But a diplomatic tangle was not the only factor delaying
the mission. Mechanical problems forced the flotilla to
shrink from eight ships to five.
Business/Economy
SB
branch managers asked to ensure quality consumer service
BSS, Rajshahi
Branch managers of Sonali Bank (SB) have been asked to
ensure quality consumer services for boosting the farm and
non- farm production sectors for sustainable livelihood
development of people in the region.
The SB management stressed this while addressing the
daylong Rajshahi divisional branch managers and consumers'
conference organized by the bank's General Manager's
office in the conference hall of Rajshahi Chamber of
Commerce and Industry here Friday.
Director of Sonali Bank Board of Directors Zannat Ara
Henry addressed the conference as the chief guest while
General Manager Mahe Alam as special guest with General
Manager Abdul Latif in the chair.
The speakers asked the branch managers to discharge their
duties with utmost sincerity and honesty for attaining the
bank's business related targets for making its position
bolstered.
Besides, they called upon them to intensify the credit
flow and investment towards the potential sector like
agriculture, agro-based industry and SME after enhancing
AD ratio.
They also underscored the need for making the banking
activities expedited based on the demand of time through
making the functions free from all sorts of traditional
norms, manipulations and delaying tendency so that the
clients could derive benefits from the bank properly.
Stressing the need on fostering the incoming foreign
remittance Zannat Ara Henry asked the branch managers to
put in their best efforts to recover the classified loan
to bring dynamism in the banking activities.
She referred to the existing agro-based enterprises in the
region including its vast Barind tract and called upon the
field level bankers to enhance investment flow towards the
enterprises for making those more profitable and
sustainable.
Referring to the Bangladesh Bank's policy of employment
generation along with boosting agriculture production, she
called for attaining the disbursing target to the
agriculture sector at any cost.
To attain the goal, she underlined the need for close
monitoring and surveillance activities in the field level
activities.
She reviewed the bank's business related targets in all
the sectors and asked the branch managers to make the
branch level banking activities computerized to bring
dynamism in the activities along with providing expected
services to the subscribers that would help supplementing
the government's endeavor to build a digital Bangladesh.
US-BD
Working Group launched in USA
BSS, Dhaka
United States Chamber of Commerce has launched joint
US-Bangladesh Working Group in Washington DC Friday.
The main objective of the US-Bangladesh Working Group is
to enhance commercial relations between Bangladesh and
United States, according to a message received here
Saturday. The group comprises representatives from
renowned US businesses like Boeing, Caterpillar, Conoco
Phillips, P&G, Global Edison, and Oracle, the Crane Group,
Chevron, General Electric, Motorola. The working group
will work to promote dialogue between business and
government leaders, shape advocacy efforts on key issues
in the bilateral trade and investment relationship, and
create a greater awareness of business opportunities for
American companies in Bangladesh.
Bangladesh Ambassador to USA Akramul Qader, in his
remarks, welcomed the initiative and assured his support
for promotion of trade and investments between Bangladesh
and Unites States. Addressing a luncheon meeting,
Ambassador Qader explained in detail about the economic
priorities set by the present government, recent
initiatives on regional connectivity and the resultant
mushrooming of opportunities for trade and investment in
Bangladesh. Referring to unsatisfied demand for energy,
which is growing by 10 percent annually, Ambassador Qader
encouraged US companies to avail the opportunity for power
generation in Bangladesh. Responding to a query on
Bangladesh's response to the challenges of climate change
and food security, Ambassador elaborated on Bangladesh
innovative public-private partnerships and forming of its
own climate fund to initiate hosts of adaptation and
mitigation measures in Bangladesh.
Ambassador also sought the assistance of US companies to
help Bangladesh achieving duty free export of products
from Bangladesh to USA. Ms. Tami Overby, Vice President of
US Chambers of Commerce welcomed the Ambassador and the
participants.
Referring to the presence of so many executives of leading
US companies in this launching ceremony, Ms. Overby stated
that this reflects their confidence in Bangladesh.
Ms. Laura Hudson, Manager, International government
Affairs of Chevron and Co-Chair of US-Bangladesh Working
Group stated that Bangladesh is a country of immense
potential and a symbol of peace and prosperity in South
Asia. She urged all to remain engaged as this Working
Group came into being through this launching ceremony.
S.Korea, China,
Japan take step towards free trade bloc
AFP, Seogwipo, South Korea
South Korea, China and Japan Saturday called for
free-trade talks aimed at eventually creating a single
economic bloc to be speeded up, as their leaders met for a
three-way summit.
The calls came as South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak
hosted the two-day summit, joined by Chinese Premier Wen
Jiabao and Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, to
discuss regional security and economic issues.
South Korea has for years been in separate free-trade
talks with China and Japan, but with little progress.
"A South Korea-Japan FTA (free trade agreement) would
contribute to developing the bilateral relations on a mid-
and long-term basis," Lee told Hatoyama during their
bilateral summit, according to Lee's spokesman.
Lee proposed to Hatoyama that the two countries should
"speed up" their preliminary talks-in place since 2004 --
before holding official talks on negotiating a free trade
pact.
"The signing of an FTA is important for Japan and South
Korea to cement their relationship in the next 100 years,"
Hatoyama said, adding his government would make active
efforts towards it.
China's Premier Wen on Saturday also called for talks on a
bilateral free-trade agreement with South Korea as both
sides wrapped up a three-year joint feasibility study on
the project.
"The two countries should start official talks on their
free-trade agreement in the future," Wen was quoted as
saying by Yonhap news agency at a meeting with South
Korean business leaders in Seoul. South Korea and China on
Friday signed a memorandum of understanding, agreeing to
hold preliminary talks on sensitive sectors such as
agriculture before starting full-fledged negotiations on a
free-trade pact.
Last weekend, the trade ministers of South Korea, China
and Japan confirmed they would complete a feasibility
study within two years on creating a single free trade
bloc grouping their three countries.
China has emerged as South Korea's largest trading
partner, absorbing some 24 percent of its total exports in
2009. South Korea has been actively pushing for free-trade
agreements worldwide to bolster its export-dominated
economy.
It already has such agreements with Chile, Singapore,
India, the European Free Trade Association and the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
OECD pledges to
cut deficits, protect growth
AFP, Paris
OECD countries committed on Friday to cutting their
deficits without hurting growth, in a closing statement at
their annual ministers' meeting.
"It is important to develop credible and transparent
medium-term fiscal consolidation plans," said the
ministers of the 35-nation Organisation for Economic
Cooperation and Development.
"We will implement them in ways that do not jeopardise
growth."
In its twice-yearly world economic report on Wednesday,
the OECD said the world is recovering robustly from the
global downturn but warned that threats remain from
eurozone debt and a risk of overheating in emerging
economies.
It upgraded the global economic growth forecast for this
year to at least 4.6 percent after a shrinkage of 0.9
percent in 2009.
The report insisted that OECD governments should take
"urgent" action to curb spiralling debt levels after
applying costly stimulus measures to help their countries
out of recession following the 2008 financial crisis.
"The fiscal positions of most OECD countries have
deteriorated significantly as a result of the crisis and
face growing pressure from ageing populations, and they
need to be brought to a more sustainable path," the OECD
said Friday.
"In carrying out fiscal consolidation, we will improve
structural fiscal balances, and stabilise and lower the
burden of public debt in the medium and long term," it
added.
The OECD also vowed to tackle unemployment, which it
forecasts will remain stubbornly high this year and next
at more than 10 percent in the eurozone and more than
eight percent across the OECD's members.
"Unemployment rates remain high in most OECD countries,"
it said. "We will develop comprehensive, inclusive,
innovative employment and social policies in order to
tackle this jobs crisis and promote recovery and growth
for all."
The OECD, a club of developed countries, now has 35
members after welcoming Israel, Slovenia, Estonia and
Chile on Thursday.
EU accuses
trading partners of persistent protectionism
Xinhua, Brussels
The European Commission said on Friday that European Union
(EU) exporters are at risk of facing persistent
protectionism from trading partners. According to a new
report published Friday by the commission, almost 280
trade restrictive measures have been put in place by the
EU's major trade partners during the economic crisis over
the last 18 months.
The EU's executive arm, which is responsible for a common
trade policy of the 27-nation bloc, warned that hardly any
measures have been removed despite signs of economic
recovery in most countries. "There is a risk that trade
restrictive measures introduced by our partners during the
crisis will become part of the trade regime even when the
economy picks up speed. What we need now is an exit
strategy from protectionism," EU Trade Commissioner Karel
De Gucht said in a statement.
ADB asks Sri Lanka to reduce size of budget
AFP, Colombo
The Asian Development Bank on Friday asked Sri Lanka to
prune the size of its budget to sustain economic stability
as the island emerges from decades of ethnic conflict. The
Manila-based bank's President Haruhiko Kuroda said Sri
Lanka's top priority now is to rebuild infrastructure in
the island's war-ravaged north and east; and ensure
economic stability reaches everyone in the country.
"For that, macro-economic stability, particularly a
sustainable budget deficit, is crucial for sustained
economic growth," Kuroda told reporters in Colombo at the
end of his three-day visit to the island.
Sri Lanka's fiscal deficit shot up to 9.7 percent of gross
domestic product in 2009, above a seven percent target set
by the International Monetary Fund when they released a
2.6 billion dollar bailout package last July.
"Fiscal deficit close to 10 percent of GDP is too large
and must be reduced over the medium term," Kuroda said
urging the government to widen its tax net and increase
government revenue.
British PM highlights reducing budget deficit, tax
reform
Xinhua, London
Britain's new Prime Minister David Cameron made his first
keynote speech on Friday, saying that tackling the
government's budget deficit and rebalancing the economy
were the government's principal tasks.
Cameron said "Our economy has become more and more
unbalanced, with our fortunes hitched to a few industries
in one corner of the country, while we let other sectors
like manufacturing slide." It has become over-reliant on
welfare, with mass worklessness accepted as a fact of life
and around 5 million people now on out-of-work benefits.
"It has become increasingly hostile to enterprise, with
business investment in the past decade growing at around
one percent each year-only a quarter of what it was the
decade before. It has become far too dependent on the
public sector." Cameron, the Conservative leader and the
first coalition government prime minister in Britain since
the Second World War 65 years ago, said that he aimed to
liberalize tax rates, and to halt and roll back the
interference of government in regulating the economy and
the country. He said, "If you're a minister who wants to
bring in a new piece of regulation, first you've got to
find an existing one to get rid of. No one should
underestimate how revolutionary this is.
Food inflation eases, but still above 16pc
PTI, New Delhi
Food inflation in India eased marginally to 16.23 per cent
as of May 15 on cheaper food grains, but held out above
the 16 per cent mark for the fifth straight week due to
costlier fruits and vegetables.
In the week ended May 8, food inflation was 16.49 per cent
and has been hovering this level since the start of the
year. It had shot past 20 per cent in December last year.
While food grain prices eased with arrival of rabi
(winter) crops in the market, economists said they expect
a substantial fall only after September when the monsoon
plays out.
Monsoon, which accounts for over 80 per cent of rains in
India, is expected to hit the Indian coast in early June.
The India Meteorological Department expects monsoon to be
98 per cent normal this year, after a poor showing last
year that hit crop output and fueled rise in food prices.
"Food inflation will remain at this level for some time.
Unless monsoon scenario becomes clear, nothing can be
said. However, we can expect a substantial decline in food
prices in the second half," Crisil's chief economist D K
Joshi said.
National
50 lakh suffer from blood related
disorders in country
BSS, Dhaka
An estimated 50 lakh people, including children, suffer
from blood related disorders in Bangladesh, hematologists
said Saturday, urging the government to set up a bone
marrow transplantation centre immediately in Dhaka to give
patients respite from expensive treatments in abroad.
"The country has only about 50 hematologists to serve an
estimated 50 lakh people suffering from blood related
disorders, "Professor Dr MA Khan, head of hematology
department of Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH)
told BSS on the sidelines of the first conference of
Bangladesh Society of Hematology at a local hotel.
Prof. Khan said the number of blood related patients was
growing in the country as the burden of non-communicable
diseases supersedes the national burden of infectious and
communicable diseases.
He said the people who have been suffering from
hematological disorders now have access to limited
services only at six places, while patients who require
bone marrow transplantation must move to India, Thailand,
Singapore and Malaysia for treatments.
"A patient is required Taka 40 lakh for bone marrow
transplantation in India and Taka 1 crore in Singapore,"
Dr Khan said adding that the cost could be minimized to
Taka 10-15 lakh provided a transplantation centre is set
up either in DMCH or Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical
University (BSMMU) at an initial investment of Taka 30-50
crore.
According to Prof. Khan, Bangladeshi people suffer from
hematological disorders such as blood cancer, lymphoma,
multiple miloma, aplastic anemia, thalassaemia and
hemophilia. The level of understanding of such diseases at
people's level is very poor, he said adding that people
rush to the doctors at late stage of the diseases.
He thanked the medicine departments of different medical
colleges for taking care of patients with hematological
disorders, but insisted that the hematological department
should be established with adequate beds at every public
medical colleges and institutes. According to him, DMCH
has now around 15 beds for treatments of blood related
disorders.
Health Minister Dr AFM Ruhal Haque, who attended the
function as the chief guest, assured the hematologists
that steps have already been taken to establish the
department at every public medical college so that people
can get services at their nearby places.
"I have personally contacted Aga Khan Medical Institute to
set up a hematological institute in Bangladesh as well,"
said the minister, adding that plenty of thalassaemia
patients were now in Bangladesh, who require better
treatments.
Land minister for achieving vision-2021
BSS, Jamalpur
Land Minister Rezaul Karim Hira Friday said the present
government has taken extensive development programmes in
different sectors, including education, health,
agriculture and power, to achieve the target of
vision-2021. The minister was addressing a discussion as
the chief guest on Vision-2021 on Nandina Model Academy
High School premises. Rezaul Karim said the National
Education Policy has been prepared and it will be declared
soon.
He laid stress on women empowerment and female education
and said healthy environment should be created so that no
girls could be repressed in their respective working and
educational places. In this regard, he urged the religious
and social leaders to keep vigil against any repression on
women.
The minister called for stopping dowry, acid-throwing and
other heinous crimes against women. Organized by District
Administration and District Information Office, the
meeting was presided over by Deputy Commissioner M Siraz
Uddin Ahmed.
Rajshahi, C’nawabgonj supply 100
MT mangos to different areas everyday
BSS, Rajshahi
Rajshahi and Chapainawabgonj, the two districts famous for
mango production, have been supplying about 100 metric
tons of mango to different parts of the country including
the capital Dhaka everyday.
In addition to passenger-coaches, trains, trucks and other
private vehicles, mangoes are being transported by the
courier services everyday.
According to the sources concerned, market price of the
seasonal delicious fruit is comparatively less this season
due to huge supply prompting the volume of transaction.
During the current peak season, Langra, king variety of
mango, has started appearing in the markets after
Gopalbhog, another tasty one. Within the next two to three
days, the Langra variety will arrive in abundance.
Meanwhile, among some 100 varieties of the delicious
fruit, various varieties like Gopalbhog, Khirshapat,
Bombay, Ranipachhand, Langra, Laksmanbhog, Himsagar,
Mohanbhog, Dudhsagar and Rajbhog have appeared in the
markets, however, the large scale is expected by the first
week of the next month.
Now the city's markets are abundant with all varieties of
mango except Fazli and the wholesale buyers as well as the
retailers have been pouring in the wholesale mango markets
and bargaining to settle the price.
Rahmat Ali, a mango-trader at Shaheb Bazar in the
metropolis, said the much- expected buying and selling is
gradually being momentum throughout the region.
Gopalbhog and Langra is being sold at Taka 1200 to 1600
per mound while the others at Taka 800 to 1000 in the
wholesale markets. The market price is comparatively lower
by Taka 5 to 10 per kilogram than that of the previous
year and there is no possibility of declining the market
price.
All the markets in the two districts are expected to have
all varieties of mango and the wholesale buyers as well as
the retailers to pour into the wholesale mango markets and
bargaining to settle the price.
RCC to renovate, develop 66 city
roads
BSS, Rajshahi
The Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC) has been renovating
and uplifting 66 city roads through asphalt plant at a
cost of Taka 29 crore aiming at developing road
communication in different wards of the metropolis.
The roads are being renovated and uplifted under the RCC's
physical infrastructure construction project. City Mayor
AHM Khairuzzaman Liton revealed this while inaugurating
the renovation works of Paramedical-Daspukur road here
Friday.
Speaking on the occasion, Mayor Liton has asked the city
corporation officials and staff concerned to maintain
utmost quality in the ongoing development works to fulfill
the cherished hopes and aspirations of the city dwellers.
He said the uplift programs are being implemented with
taxpayers' money so emphasis must be given to maintaining
quality so that the city dwellers could derive total
benefits of the programs.
In this context, he called for discharging duties with
utmost sincerity and honesty.
Referring to various development works of the city
corporation, Mayor Liton said more uplift programs were
undertaken to develop the 12 disadvantaged wards and hoped
that the civic facilities would be ensured after
successful implementation of the programs.
He mentioned that a project proposal has been sent to the
concerned ministry for constructing a connecting road from
Postal Academy to Satbaria for development of the Ward 26.
RCC Ward councilors Rabiul Alam Milu, Abul Hasnat and
Meraj Uddin, Chief
Engineer Sirajum Munir, Superintending Engineer Ashraful
Haque, Executive Engineer Abul Basher and members of civil
society were, among others, present on the occasion.
Farmers of Bandarban demand
construction of cold storage
BSS, Bandarban
The farmers of the district demanded for construction of
cold storage on an urgent basis in the district and
upazila levels in order to preserve perishable seasonal
fruits. The Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE)
sources said the district has witnessed a bumper
production of mangoes, jack-fruits, papaya and pine-apples
in the current season.
The farmers of the hilly district are being deprived, as
they could not sell their produces in fair prices in the
local markets.
The sources said the farmers have been forced by the
middlemen to sell their produce at throw away prices as
there is no cold storage in the hilly district to preserve
fruits.
Officials of DAE told BSS that fruits are being cultivated
on about 32,000 hectares of hilly lands in the current
season. Of the total lands, pine apples are cultivated on
12,000 hectares of land, mangoes on 12,000 hectares of
land and jack fruits on 8,000 hectares of land to produce
2 lakh metric tonnes of pine-apples, about 1.50 lakh
tonnes of mangoes and 4 lakh tonnes of jack-fruits.
Sports
Five-star Shahadat glad of Lord’s
landmark
AFP, London
Bangladesh fast bowler Shahadat Hossain took five wickets
against England at Lord's on Friday and then revealed he
feared he might never play Test cricket after a desperate
debut here five years ago.
As an 18-year-old, Shahadat had figures of no wickets for 101
runs in just 12 overs as England won by a crushing innings and
261 run margin inside three days at Lord's in 2005.
But it was a different story on Friday with Shahadat becoming
the first Bangladesh bowler to take five wickets in a Test
innings against England, with a return of five for 98 in 28
overs. By stumps on the second day Bangladesh-who've lost all
six of their previous Tests against England-were 172 for two.
Junaid Siddique was 53 not out after openers Tamim Iqbal (55)
and Imrul Kayes (43) made a fine start.
Bangladesh were still 333 behind an England first innings 505
featuring Jonathan Trott's Test-best 226 and they needed a
further 134 runs to avoid the follow-on. But their improvement
was undeniable.
"My debut here in 2005, I was very nervous," Shahadat told
reporters.
"This time I try my best, just bowl line length. It's the
first time Bangladesh has got a name in the book (on the
Lord's honours board) that's very important.
"I just tried to be accurate, bowl quick with swing, line and
length and nothing else." Thinking back to his first Test at
Lord's, Shahadat added: "I had a nightmare debut. I never felt
I would get a second chance to come to Lord's.
"I played for the 'A' team and came to England where I became
the highest wicket-taker. I thought if I get another chance at
Lord's I must make amends."
He certainly did, with a burst of three wickets for 12 runs in
21 balls, Trott, wrapping up the England innings shortly after
lunch..
Bangladesh's batsmen then backed up Shahadat's good work
although, as the paceman pointed out, they were facing a far
less threatening pace attack than the 2005 class of Stephen
Harmison, Simon Jones and Andrew Flintoff who went on that
season to help England regain the Ashes from Australia.
"It was the best bowling attack with Harmison, Jones and
Flintoff. The bowling was very fast," Shahadat said. Turning
back to Friday's play, he continued: "The batting was very
good, Tamim and Imrul gave us a good start and Junaid carried
it on."
England's bowlers struggled for both penetration and accuracy
on a good batting pitch, the exception being 21-year-old
Steven Finn who, making his home Test debut on his Middlesex
home ground having first featured at this level during a 2-0
series win in Bangladesh in March.
Finn removed Kayes with a well-directed short ball the batsman
could only glove to England captain Andrew Strauss, a county
colleague of the bowler, at first slip.
"It was a fantastic feeling to get my first (Test) wicket at
Lord's in front of that crowd, and the atmosphere," Finn said.
Danone
Nations Cup kicks off today
TBT report
The zonal matches of the Danone Nations Cup will be held from
May 30 to June 2 at eight venues across the country.
The venues are: Gazipur, Brahman Baria, Thakur-gaon, Barisal,
Rajbari, Meherpur, Bagerhat and Surajganj.
Eight zonal champions will feature in the final round of the
competition, which will start on June 7 at Bangabandhu
National Sta-dium in Dhaka.
Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) has organized the
competition with the sponsorship of Grameen Foods Limited and
Citycell, a mobile phone operator of the country.
The boys aged between 10-12 years are eligible to take part in
the tournament.
Thirty-nine teams are taking part in the preliminary round of
the competition, BFF member Fazlur Rahman said at a media
briefing at BFF House on Saturday.
The champion of the final round of the Danone Nations Cup
along with the last year's champion Khulna team will travel to
South Africa to take part in the international competition,
which will be held in Johannesburg from September 29 to
October 4, Rahman added.
BFF member Satyajit Das and National Sales Director of Grameen
Foods Limited M Zulfiker Ali Siddique also spoke at the
briefing.
Mohakhali XI
wins over Badda 2-0
TBT report
Mohakhali XI blanked Badda Jagoroni Club 2-0 in the
Basundhara Senior Division Football League at Bir
Shreshtha Shaheed Mohammad Mustafa Sta-dium in Dhaka on
Saturday.
Golap scored the first goal for the winners after 25
minutes, while Milon doubled the lead four minutes later
for Mohakhali XI.
Today's match: Jatrabari Krira Chakra vs Dhaka Wanderers
Club (4:00 pm at Bir Shreshtha Shaheed Mohammad Mustafa
Sta-dium, Kamalapur).
Morkel, Langeveldt propel
South Africa to victory
AFP, Roseau
Morne Morkel and Charl Langeveldt shared seven wickets to
bowl South Africa to a 67-run victory over West Indies in
the third One-day International on Friday.
Morkel captured an ODI career-best four wickets for 21
runs from seven overs, and Langeveldt took three for 30
from the same number of overs, as the South Africans
successfully defended a victory target of 225 to win the
match at Windsor Park with 72 balls to spare.
Morkel formalised the result, when Ravi Rampaul essayed an
indescribable off-side stroke, and skied the ball to deep
extra cover, where Johan Botha held a fine catch running
backwards.
The victory gave the Proteas an unbeatable 3-0 lead in the
five-match series, following a 66-run victory, under the
Duckworth-Lewis Method, in the rain-marred opening match
last Saturday at the Vivian Richards Cricket Ground in
Antigua, where they also won the second ODI by 17 runs
last Monday.
"It is fantastic to have won the first three games of the
series, since series wins are always important," said
South Africa captain Graeme Smith.
"We needed to bounce back (following the Twenty20 World
Cup), and we did.
A resolute 70 from A.B. deVilliers anchored the South
Africans to a respectable 224 all out in 47.2 of their 50
overs, after they won the toss, and elected to bat on
another belter of a pitch.
DeVilliers struck just two fours and one six from 80
balls, as the Proteas' batting stumbled for the first time
in the series.
South Africa's bowlers then made sure their limp batting
performance did not lead to a terminal meltdown, and
diligently worked their way through the brittle West
Indies batting.
"I thought we let another one slip away," said West Indies
captain Chris Gayle. "Coming after that big effort in the
last game, it was a bit disappointing for us, the way we
batted.
Henin, Sharapova set up dream
clash
AFP, Paris
Defending champion Svetlana Kuznetsova's luck finally ran
out at the French Open on Friday, as superstars Justine
Henin and Maria Sharapova set up a headline-grabbing
third-round clash.
Sixth seed Kuznetsova lost 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 to 30th-seeded
Russian compatriot Maria Kirilenko in the third round,
having already survived four match points in her
second-round win over Germany's Andrea Petkovic.
"I didn't come here with my best game, but I gave my all
and I fought all I could," said a downbeat Kuznetsova.
"You cannot play great all the time. It's up and downs. I
haven't been playing well this claycourt season or this
season. It happens and I'll be back. It's just a matter of
time." Kirilenko, who also beat Kuznetsova on the Rome
clay earlier this month, spurned two match points before
converting the third and will meet 17th seed Francesca
Schiavone of Italy for a last-eight berth.
Four-time champion Henin and former world number one
Sharapova will contest a place in the last 16 on Saturday
after comfortably winning second-round matches that had
been held over because of rain on Thursday.
Henin, the 22nd seed, finished off a straightforward 6-3,
6-3 defeat of Czech Klara Zakopalova, with 12th seed
Sharapova completing a victory over Henin's Belgian
countrywoman Kirsten Flipkens by the same score.
"Playing again in front of the Paris crowd and all the
Belgian supporters warms my heart," said Henin, who
returned to the sport earlier this year after retiring in
2008 and whose last visit to Roland Garros in 2007 saw her
claim her fourth title.
"I've missed it and the sensations are coming back bit by
bit."
Sharapova now bars Henin's route to a fifth Roland Garros
crown and the Russian said she was excited at the prospect
of renewing acquaintances.
"I'm looking forward to it," said Sharapova, who trails
Henin 6-3 in head-to-head career matches.
"We've had some great matches in the past. We've had some
battles and I've had some tough losses and some great
wins, so I look forward to this one."
Argentina arrives in
South Africa
BSS/AFP, Johannesburg
Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi arrived here on Saturday
with the Argentina squad to prepare for a World Cup they
are among the favourites to win.
Clear skies and cool early morning autumn conditions
greeted the third team to land in South Africa after Asia
powerhouse Australia and five-time champion Brazil for the
June 11-July 11 international football showcase featuring
32 national teams.
After a brief session with select TV crews and
photographers, coach Maradona, Barcelona superstar Messi
and a mix of foreign-based and domestic stars left in a
brightly painted luxury coach for their Pretoria base.
Football legend Maradona-who is bidding to add World Cup
glory as coach to the 1986 trophy he won as a player-drew
huge crowds wherever he went during a pre-tournament
inspection visit to South Africa and is set to be among
the most colourful characters at the first African World
Cup.
The 49-year-old considered by many critics the greatest
footballer the game has seen created headlines this week
by demanding a special heated loo seat and promising to
run naked through central Buenos Aires if he lifts the
Cup.
A 450-dollar heated loo seat with a warm-air blow dryer
and front and rear bidet wands was ordered for the room
where Maradona will stay, South African reports said.
And the naked-run boast came during an Argentine radio
show the day after his team outclassed Canada 5-0 in a
warm-up for World Cup Group B fixtures against Nigeria,
South Korea and Greece.
He captained his country to World Cup glory in 1986 - the
tournament in which he scored the 'Hand of God' goal
against England - but had to be satisfied with a
runners-up medal four years later.
Maradona, banned during the 1994 World Cup after testing
positive for the banned substance ephe-drine, succeeded
Alfio Basile as coach halfway through a faltering
Argentine campaign to qualify for the 2010 World Cup.
The 49-year-old also battled to find a winning formula and
Argentina secured a place in South Africa only in the
final round with a 1-0 victory over Uruguay in Montevideo.
Argentina fell 2-1 away to European champions Spain and
triumphed 1-0 away to 2006 World Cup hosts and bronze
medalists Germany in high-profile warm-up matches.
But Maradona has yet to convince sections of the media he
can take his country to a third title after winning at
home in 1978 and in Mexico eight years later.
Criticisms include favouring an overly cautious system
that includes only two strikers, usually Messi and Gonzalo
Higuain, while leaving Champions League hero Diego Milito,
Carlos Tevez and son-in-law Sergio Aguero on the bench,
though Maradona did suggest after the mauling of Canada
that he could deploy three strikers.
Ireland outplays Algeria 3-0
AFP, Dublin
World Cup-bound Algeria looked toothless in attack and
shaky in defence as it suffered a tame 3-0 defeat to
Ireland in a World Cup friendly here on Friday.
Veteran Robbie Keane scored a brace and Paul Green one
goal against the Algerians, who are drawn in Group A of
the June 11-July 11 finals in South Africa alongside
England, Slovenia and the United States.
Ireland, controversially denied a spot in the World Cup
finals after their fate was sealed thanks to an unseen
Thierry Henry handball in a play-off against France,
dominated proceedings and fully deserved the win.
"We've done fantastically this week: we've beaten two
teams going to the World Cup," said Ireland's Liam
Lawrence, referring to his team's 2-1 victory over
Paraguay on Tuesday.
"We've put the past behind us and are looking forward to
(Euro 2012 qualifiers in) September," said the Stoke
midfielder, who nonetheless said he would not be watching
any of France's games in South Africa.
He added: "Algeria are a good footballing side and played
well in patches, but I would expect England to beat them.
"But you never know in the World Cup, people raise their
game."
After an uneventful first half-hour, Green got the
scoreboard ticking with his first goal for Ireland in just
his second appearance.
The Derby County player bravely went for a Lawrence
free-kick that bounced between the striker and goalkeeper
Faouzi Chaouchi, a diving header seeing the ball into the
back of the goal.
Algeria could afford to be upset that the assistant
referee failed to spot a blatant offside from three Irish
players.
But the north Africans could not complain about not
getting on the scoresheet, having failed to get even a
single shot on target in the opening period.They came
closest when Abdelkader Ghezzal made a threatening run
into the Irish box, but Sean St Ledger produced a perfect
sliding tackle to deny the Sienna striker.
Things got worse for Algeria when Celtic's much-travelled
Keane, the Ireland captain, scored Ireland's second six
minutes into the second-half.
A neat Damien Duff cross was poorly cleared by Chaouchi
and Keane was on hand to swivel and dink the ball over the
stranded keeper's despairing dive into the net.
Chaouchi was on hand shortly after to make a smart
one-handed save from Keane, who minutes later saw a
scrambled effort come off the post as Algeria struggled
badly to contain the Irish long-ball tactic.
The home side's midfielder Keith Andrews went close with a
free-kick with nine minutes to play as both sides made a
host of changes that disrupted the natural rhythm of the
game.
Gabashvili shocks Roddick at
French Open
AFP, Paris
Sixth seed Andy Roddick was stunned by an inspired
performance from Russian qualifier Teimuraz Gabashvili,
the world number 114, in the third round of the French
Open here on Saturday.
Gabashvili won 6-4, 6-4, 6-2, having never previously
progressed beyond the second round of a Grand Slam, and
will meet Spanish ninth seed David Ferrer or Austrian 22nd
seed Juergen Melzer for a place in the quarter-finals.
Former world number one Roddick, the 2003 US Open
champion, skipped this year's entire claycourt season for
personal reasons and has never got past the last 16 stage
at Roland Garros.
Gabashvili put Roddick's famous serve under pressure from
the off, spurning three breaks points in the American's
second service game but then breaking for a 4-3 lead with
a deft backhand drop shot.
The Russian served out for the set and clinched the second
set after converting the third of three break points in
game nine.
The 25-year-old established control of the third set by
breaking the off-colour Roddick twice in the opening three
games and he went on to complete the biggest victory of
his career in a time of one hour and 54 minutes.
Gabashvili's compatriot Mikhail Youzhny, the 11th seed,
will face French eighth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the
fourth round after completing a 2-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-2, 6-3
win over Serbia's Viktor Troicki held over from Friday.
Later on Saturday, second seed Rafael Nadal continues his
bid for a fifth Roland Garros title when he takes on
Australian former world number one Lleyton Hewitt.
Serbian third seed Novak Djokovic faces Romanian Victor
Hanescu, the 31st seed, with Nadal's Spanish compatriot
Fernando Verdasco, seeded seventh, meeting German 30th
seed Philipp Kohlschreiber.
Germany’s top stars reveal World
Cup rituals
AFP, Berlin
Germany's top stars have revealed the rituals which they
hope will help the national side claim their fourth World
Cup title in South Africa next month.
The Germans face Hungary in their penultimate World Cup
warm-up match in Budapest on Saturday and open their South
African campaign against Australia in Durban on June 13
before facing Serbia and Ghana in Group D.
Germany won the World Cup in 1954, 1974 and 1990 and are
bidding to win a fourth title, which will give them a
fourth star above the German Football Federation (DFB)
badge on their traditional white shirts.
Their top players told the German fans' website the
rituals they need to experience before running out to
represent their country.
"My ritual, which I want and need before a game, is when
the team stands as a unit in a circle. That gives me a
lift," said new captain Philipp Lahm, who replaces
ankle-injury victim Michael Ballack as skipper.
Schalke 04 goalkeeper Manuel Neuer said he has to touch
the goalposts before the game starts.
"Just before the whistle at the start of the game, I touch
each of the goalposts and the crossbar once," he said.
"This simply does me a bit of good."
Centre-back Per Mertesacker says he ignores the razor for
a few days. "He who shaves, loses," said the Werder Bremen
defender.
Germany's vice-captain and Bayern Munich midfield star
Bastian Schweinsteiger likes to be last to arrive at the
stadium.
"With the national team, I am always the last off the bus
and the last to run out on the pitch," he said.
Domenech set to equal Hidalgo’s
record
AFP, Sousse
Much-criticised France coach Raymond Domenech will equal
Euro 1984 winning handler Michel Hidalgo's record of being
in charge of the national side when it plays Tunisia in a
friendly here today.
The 58-year-old - who guided France to a penalty shootout
defeat in the 2006 World Cup finals by Italy but was
ridiculed after France crashed out of the first stage of
Euro 2008 - will be in the dugout for the 75th time since
he replaced Jacques Santini after Euro 2004.
Unlike Domenech 77-year-old Hidalgo is a revered figure in
French football, having brought together the great
midfield - or the 'magic square' as it was known -
orchestrated by Michel Platini, with Jean Tigana, Alain
Giresse and Luis Fernandez which culminated in the Euro
'84 title hosted in France.
Overall Hidalgo - who came within a penalty shootout of
the 1982 World Cup final when the then West Germany came
from 3-1 down in extra-time to win on penalties - had a
record of 41 victories, 16 draws, 18 defeats with 139
goals scored and 72 conceded. Hidalgo's reign lasted from
March 27, 1976, to June 27, 1984.
Domenech, who is the first French coach to take the team
to three successive major championships, has an overall
record of 41 victories, 22 draws and 11 defeats with 108
goals scored and 49 conceded according to French Football
Federation (FFF) statistics.
Bangladesh scores 185/4
TBT Sports Desk
Bangladesh scored 185 for four in 60 overs in its first
innings on the third day of the first Test against England
at Lord's Cricket Ground in London on Saturday.
Junaid Siddique (58) and Mohammad Ashraful (4) were out on
the third day after a rain delayed start. Jahurul Islam
with 20 and captain Shakib Al Hasan with none were
batting.
Sharma’s century cannot stop Zimbabwe
AFP, Bulawayo
A maiden century for India by Rohit Sharma was not enough
to stop Zimbabwe from snatching a dramatic victory in the
first one-day international of a three-way series here on
Friday.
The home team won at a gallop with 10 balls and six
wickets to spare in the first of two matches between them
in a series which also includes Sri Lanka.
All six top Zimbabwe batsmen, led by man-of-the-match
Brendan Taylor, contributed significantly towards a
surprise victory as they overtook an India total of 285-5
to record an impressive 289-4 in reply.
The home team performed with skill and sometimes disdain,
setting about their task of overtaking the Indian effort
in both workmanlike and spectacular manner, as varying
situations demanded.
India's new captain Suresh Raina, who had won the toss and
opted to bat, praised the Zimbabwe batsmen but blamed the
defeat more on the inexperience of his team.
"Some of them have never played at this level," he
explained. "However we should have been able to defend 285
runs."
Taylor's innings of 81 runs, cut short with a boundary
catch when approaching his second ODI century, was backed
up principally by Craig Ervine in his first ODI innings
for Zimbabwe.
He made 67 with Hamilton Masakadza contributing 46.
Sharma's hundred earlier in the day was a mix of caution
and boundary hunting as he gained confidence. He came in
when India had lost three wickets for 61 and were
momentarily on the back foot.
Their recovery from this, led by Sharma, came with a
flurry of boundaries in later overs and 285 runs seemed
likely to be sufficient to beat a home team with no great
record in internationals.
But the Zimbabweans, who have done their Test cricket
return aspirations a boost with this result, set about the
task with inspiration and confidence.
Certainly the India bowling was not up to scratch and will
have to be tightened up for their next match, against Sri
Lanka here on Sunday.
The one blot on Zimbabwe's day was the bowling performance
of new captain Elton Chigumbura, who contrived to give
away no fewer than 20 wides in his two overs - something
for the Guinness Book of Records if they had such a
category.
Chigumbura said afterwards he had problems with his
technique but he praised his colleagues for their "superb
overall performance." Brendan Taylor took three catches in
the India innings, giving him an especially memorable day.
India, who blamed their defeat on youth and inexperience,
will have to regroup in the next two days, aware that the
Sri Lankans are ready to pounce.
Eto'o questions World Cup
participation
BSS/AFP, Paris
Cameroon captain Samuel Eto'o on Friday questioned his
participation at the World Cup finals after criticism from
former compatriot Roger Milla that he had brought nothing
to his country.
Milla this week told AFP that Eto'o had "brought lots to
Barcelona and Inter Milan but never anything to the
Cameroon team". "It's also a question of discipline.
Cameroon is waiting for him to react," Milla said.
Eto'o, who this month won the Champions League with Inter
to add to his two European Cup winning medals with Barca
in 2006 and 2009, dubbed Milla "bitter".
Milla, aged 38 at the start of the 1990 World Cup in
Italy, was not expected to be anything more than a
bit-part player in Cameroon's second appearance at the
finals.
But five games, four goals, and several samba shuffles
later and the veteran striker had catapulted himself into
the World Cup's hall of fame as perhaps the most famous
African footballer ever.
Pakistan lifts ban on Malik
AFP, Lahore
Former captain Shoaib Malik will be available for Pakistan
in next month's Asia Cup and tour of England after a judge
recommended lifting his ban for disciplinary offences on
Saturday.
Earlier this year the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) banned
Malik from the national squad for one year and fined him
two million rupees (23,270 US dollars) for breaches of
discipline while on tour.
The PCB also punished six other players who took part in
the tours of the United Arab Emirates, New Zealand and
Australia, particularly after Pakistan lost all three
Tests and five one-day games in Australia in
December-January.
The punishments were referred to a retired judge for
review, with PCB chairman Ijaz Butt telling a
parliamentary committee last week that his board would
accept any of the judge's findings.
PCB lawyer Talib Rizvi told AFP Saturday that "the
arbitrator Justice Irfan Qadir has lifted the one-year ban
on Malik and has also halved the fine on Malik to one
million rupees."
Along with Malik, allrounder Rana Naved-ul was also banned
for one year and fined two million rupees. Former captains
Younus Khan and Mohammad Yousuf were banned for indefinite
periods, while Kamran Akmal, Shahid Afridi and Umar Akmal
were fined heavily.
Younus's appeal was also heard on Saturday but after
arguments between the tribunal and Younus's lawyer Ahmed
Malik Qayyum, the hearing was adjourned until June 9,
Rizvi said.
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