Taslima Nasrin: 2011

SYDNEY, Australia: WikiLeaks has been recognised in Australia for its "outstanding contribution to journalism", with founder Julian Assange lashing out at "cowardly" Prime Minister Julia Gillard in an acceptance speech.

The anti-secrecy website was lauded at the annual Walkley Awards, where winners are chosen by an independent panel of journalists and photographers, for its courageous reporting of secret US cables.

"WikiLeaks applied new technology to penetrate the inner workings of government to reveal an avalanche of inconvenient truths in a global publishing coup," the Walkley trustees said in bestowing the award Sunday evening.

"Its revelations, from the way the war on terror was being waged, to diplomatic bastardry, high-level horse-trading and the interference in the domestic affairs of nations, have had an undeniable impact."

The whistleblowing website has published thousands of cables in which US diplomats give their often candid views on world leaders, to Washington's acute embarrassment.

Assange, an Australian citizen who has previously blasted Canberra for not doing enough to protect him in the fallout from the leaks, was scathing of the government in accepting the accolade in a pre-recorded video message.

"The Gillard government has shown its true colours in relation to how it’s handled US pressure on WikiLeaks," he said in footage shown on SBS television which broadcast the awards.

"Australian journalists are courageous, the Australian population is supportive, but Julia Gillard is a cowardly Australian prime minister.

"As Australians we shall not despair, as long as we can speak out, as long as we can publish, and as long as the Internet remains free, we will continue to fight back, armed with the truth," he added.

Assange has spent much of the last year under virtual house arrest in Britain since he was detained in December 2010 over claims of rape and sexual assault made by two women in Sweden.

He has strongly denied the allegations against him, claiming they are politically motivated and linked to the activities of WikiLeaks.

The former computer hacker is currently appealing a decision against his extradition to Sweden to face the charges.

Source: theindependentbd.com

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Wednesday, 2 November 2011

Yesterday’s greenery gone today

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
Front Page

Author / Source : FAISAL MAHMUD

Dhaka, Nov 1: It was a picture-postcard park in the midst of a concrete jungle. Not anymore. The lone park at Tantibazar on English Road seems to have lost much of its greenery, with a perfunctory beautification in the east, a 10 feet high dumping zone in the middle and an unofficial stand for trucks in the west. “Is it a park? I thought it to be another plot of land to aggravate traffic snarls in the capital," wondered Nahid, a first-year student of Jagannath University (JU), albeit everyday he takes a shortcut through the park to reach his university.
“It once was a pretty little spot amid the concrete walls. There were some rides for children in it," mused Ajaml Hossain, an old resident of the area.
Ajaml told The Independent that the park was surrounded by long trees. “On weekends, food-sellers used to flock here, as people visited the park with their children," he added.
Although he could not remember when the children's rides were uprooted from the park, Ajaml said the number of children visiting the place got less and less as construction of some large buildings started on the southern side.
Large trucks carrying bricks used to be parked at the spot and it had become an open-air garage for trucks and pushcarts, he mentioned. “Later, it was turned into a convenient place for dumping construction wastes," he said.
Refatullah, a shop-owner at the south side of the park, alleged that the park becomes a junk-hub at night. “We close our shops at around 9 p.m., and by then some groups, consisting of young people, gather here and the place becomes a drug den. It has become a safe haven for addicts," he added.
This correspondent found bottles of Phensidyl at the dumping ground for construction wastes.
A temporary tea-stall owner at the park, preferring anonymity, admitted that the place has gone to the junkies. “Who cares? Police are paid by drug-traders to look the other way," he rued.
When this correspondent told Ataur, a traffic sergeant on duty by the park's side, about the bottles of phensidyl, he smiled knowingly and simply said: “This happens”.
"The Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) has chosen this site as a dumping ground for construction wastes. It has only worsened the situation," said Sharif Jamil, member secretary of the Parks and Grounds Committee of Bangladesh Paribesh Andolon (BAPA).
The green activist said the Tantibazar park had been constructed during the British rule and then it was much larger than its present size. “During the East Pakistan period, the park had lost some of its land, but it was still a beautiful place to pass a lazy afternoon," he remarked.

During HM Ershad's regime, some children’s rides were set up at the park and it became a children's playground. About this time, it was also brought under the jurisdiction of the DCC. “Rather than looking after the spot of green, from 2008, the corporation itself started to dump construction wastes in the middle of the park,” Jamil rued.
Munshi Mohammad Abdul Hashem, executive engineer of circle-2 of the DCC, told The Independent that the civic body dumps rubbish in the centre of the park. The DCC started dumping wastes here to stop truck drivers from parking their vehicles, he said.
In 2007, the DCC assigned Heritage, a private company, with the task of beautifying the park. When contacted, Heritage officials said they had beautified the east side of the park. They also said that the DCC had stopped providing financial assistance to the company, and added that they were threatened by some local goons to stop the beautification.
They, however, said that the firm is eager to re-start beautification. “But we need financial and administrative support from the DCC. Otherwise, it will not be possible,” they added.
The chief waste management officer of the DCC, Capt. Bipan Kumar Saha, said the civic body will soon clean up the mess. “Unfortunately, if we clean the dumping ground, it’ll again become a temporary stand for trucks,” he added.
He observed that the west side of the park has already been in use as a truck stand.
“Our estate and engineering sections should work together to clean the park. This will prevent truck drivers from encroaching the place,” he said.
“We’ll soon launch a programme to give back the children’s park its old look ,” said the DCC’s chief estate officer, Golam Rahman Mia.
“Prime minister Sheikh Hasina gave directives to protect children’s playgrounds. We’ll take the initiative to protect the DCC-listed 47 parks in Dhaka city”, he added.

Source: theindependentbd.com

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Greek cabinet backs George Papandreou's referendum plan

Greece's cabinet has given unanimous backing to a controversial plan by PM George Papandreou to hold a referendum on a EU debt rescue package.

He told an emergency cabinet meeting that a referendum would offer "a clear mandate" for austerity measures demanded by other eurozone members.

Stock markets recorded big drops amid shocked reactions in eurozone capitals to the referendum announcement.

Mr Papandreou is due to meet European leaders in France on Wednesday.

In a cabinet meeting lasting late into Tuesday night, Mr Papandreou told ministers the government needed the consent of the Greek people.

In a statement released by his office, he said: "The referendum will be a clear mandate and a clear message in and outside Greece on our European course and participation in the euro."

Mr Papandreou also said a possible alternative of snap elections would risk Greece defaulting on its debt.

The Greek government faces a crucial confidence vote in parliament on Friday.

Following the seven-hour meeting, government spokesman Elias Mossialos said: "The cabinet expressed its support."

"The referendum will take place as soon as possible, right after the basics of the bailout deal are formulated," he added.

Monday's referendum announcement led to sharp falls on world markets on Tuesday. Asian markets also continued their slide on Wednesday.

The planned referendum threatened to unravel a deal reached at a EU summit last week aimed at resolving the euro debt crisis.

Leaders agreed on a 100bn-euro loan (£86bn; $140bn) to Athens and a 50% debt write-off.

But in return, Greece must make deep cuts in public spending, slashing pensions and wages and making thousands of civil servants redundant.

There have widespread protests in Greece against the measures.

Bailout stands

On Tuesday President Nicolas Sarkozy of France said Mr Papandreou's decision "surprised all of Europe".

The French and German governments said they wanted "full implementation" of the agreement "in the quickest time frame".

Mr Papandreou is to hold hastily arranged talks on Wednesday with Mr Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, on the sidelines of a G20 summit in France.

In a joint statement, President Sarkozy and Chancellor Merkel said the decisions taken by last week's EU summit were "more necessary than ever".

"France and Germany are convinced that this agreement will allow Greece to return to sustainable growth," they said.

Last week's marathon EU summit was intended to rescue Greece and bringing the 17-nation eurozone back from the brink of disaster.

Eurozone chief Jean-Claude Juncker said if a referendum rejected the bailout, it could mean bankruptcy for Greece.

"It will depend on the manner in which the question will be exactly formulated and on what the Greeks exactly vote on," he said.

Confidence vote

Some Greek government ministers had been unaware of the referendum plan until it was announced.

The announcement even took Greece's Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos by surprise, Greek media reported.

One MP from the governing Pasok party has resigned, cutting Mr Papandreou's parliament majority to two ahead of Friday's confidence vote.

Six other leading party members have called on him to resign.

The Greek opposition has called for early elections, saying the referendum jeopardises Greece's EU membership.

Antonis Samaras, leader of the main opposition New Democrats, said: "In order to save himself, Mr Papandreou has posed a dilemma of blackmail that puts our future and our position in Europe in danger."

Source: theindependentbd.com

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Asian markets down on Greek referendum fears

Asian markets fell Wednesday, taking a lead from Wall Street amid fears that a Greek referendum on its latest bailout deal could derail Europe's grand plan to fix its crushing debt crisis.

Tokyo was down 1.73 percent, Sydney lost 0.74 percent, Seoul shed 1.26 percent while Hong Kong was off 0.92 by lunch and Shanghai lost 1.00 percent.

The Greek prime minister's call for a referendum and the possibility that the country's voters would reject the EU bailout plan sent US and European shares sharply downward Tuesday, while also taking a toll on oil prices.

Bond markets were affected by fears that Italy could be the next eurozone nation to face a debt crisis, with the yield on the country's 10-year bonds hitting 6.2 percent, close to the record reached in August.

In Asian trade Wednesday, Italy's benchmark 10-year bonds were yielding 6.08 percent.

Embattled Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou won the unanimous backing of his cabinet for a referendum on the sweeping bailout plan agreed just last Thursday, the government's spokesman said early Wednesday.

His surprise call for a vote raised the possibility that the deal would unravel, leaving Greece on the path to a default.

"Greece's referendum and various doubts about the agreement itself mean that the situation has gone back to square one," said Mitul Kotecha, strategist at Credit Agricole.

"Markets are seriously pondering a disorderly default in Greece."

Japan's finance minister said Wednesday that the referendum move had "confused people", ahead of a Group of 20 meeting in France Thursday where the issue was expected to top the agenda.

"Greece's abrupt announcement on holding a referendum, which was not included in (the earlier agreed deal), has confused people," Jun Azumi told reporters.

Taiwan's central bank governor Perng Fai-nan was more blunt, saying the move was "like throwing a bomb to financial markets," Dow Jones Newswires reported.

A Greek vote against the plan would scupper the EU deal, which is designed to cut Athens' debt load of more than 350 billion euros ($495 billion) by around 100 billion euros.

Last week's plan also agreed to recapitalise banks to withstand the impact of a 50 percent loss on their Greek bonds, as well as boost the European Financial Stability Facility rescue fund.

Wall Street plunged on Tuesday, with bank shares pulling down the broad-based S&P 500-stock index by 2.8 percent.

The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 2.5 percent, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite slid 2.9 percent.

The declines came even as US auto sales, a key economic driver, continued to grow in October, with Chrysler enjoying a 27 percent increase, while traders awaited a US Federal Reserve rate-setting meeting Wednesday and any sign of fresh stimulus measures for the US economy.

Investors were also jittery after Beijing said Tuesday that China's official purchasing managers' index dropped to 50.4 in October from 51.2 in September, suggesting the global economy's main growth driver was losing steam.

Anything above 50 is seen as growth while a reading below indicates contraction.

On currency markets, the euro fetched $1.3716 and 107.18 yen in Tokyo trade compared with $1.3697 and 107.29 yen late Tuesday in New York.

The single currency tumbled as low as $1.3609 in New York, its lowest level since October 12 and well below the $1.42 level it reached last week after the eurozone plan was announced.

The dollar edged down to 78.14 yen from 78.34 yen, off rates above 79.00 yen in Tokyo on Monday after Japan's first yen-selling intervention since August.

The Australian dollar was also lower, trading at 103.52 US cents from 104.36 late Tuesday.

New York's main oil contract, light sweet crude for delivery in December, was down 72 cents to $91.47 in morning Asian trade.

Brent North Sea crude for December settlement tumbled 54 cents to $109.00.

At 0430 GMT gold, considered a safe haven during times of economic uncertainty, was higher at $1,723.01 an ounce against $1,718.65 late Monday.

Source: theindependentbd.com

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Sunday, 30 October 2011

Bangladesh facing batting collapse

WI celebrate after dismissal of Bangladeshi captain: AFP Bangladesh lost first five wickets for just 73 runs in the first innings of the second and final test against West Indies at the Sher-e Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur on Sunday.

Fidel Edwards grabbed five wickets of Tamim, Shahriar, Raqibul Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib Al Hasan.

Earlier, West Indies were all out for 355 in the first innings. The visiting team resumed their second day’s play at 253/5.

On Saturday West Indies won the toss and elected to bat first.

Bangladesh squad: Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Shahriar Nafees, Raqibul Hasan, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim (Captain), Naeem Islam, Nasir Hossain, Rubel Hossain, Shahadat Hossain and Suhrawadi Shuvo.

West Indies squad: Kraigg Brathwaite, Kieran Powell, Kirk Edwards, Darren Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Marlon Samuels, Carlton Baugh, 8 Darren Sammy (Captain), Fidel Edwards, Devendra Bishoo and Kemar Roach.

Source: theindependentbd.com

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Tuesday, 25 October 2011

Nusrat Bhutto, former first lady of Pakistan, dies

Pakistan's former first lady Begum Nusrat Bhutto has died in Dubai after a long illness. She was 82.

She was the widow of the former Pakistani Prime Minister and President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, and the mother of Benazir Bhutto, who was assassinated four years ago.

Nusrat Bhutto was herself elected twice to the Pakistani parliament.

She led the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) until her daughter took over in the mid-1980s.

Her husband, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was the founder of the PPP, which controls the government in Pakistan today.

He was prime minister and president in the 1970s.

Nusrat Bhutto led the PPP for several years after her husband was hanged in 1979, during the military rule of Gen Zia-ul-Haq.

Her daughter, Benazir, later took over as head of the PPP and served twice as prime minister.

Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in 2007, shortly after returning to the country to participate in elections following years of exile. Her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, is now Pakistan's president.

Nusrat Bhutto will be buried in the family's mausoleum in southern Sindh province, a PPP spokesman said.

Source: theindependentbd.com

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Monday, 24 October 2011

Argentine president wins landslide re-election

BUENOS AIRES: President Cristina Fernandez was re-elected in a landslide Sunday, winning with the widest victory margin in Argentina's history after her government spread the wealth of a booming economy.

Fernandez had 53 percent of the vote after 58 percent of the polling stations reported nationwide. Her nearest challenger got just 17 percent. Interior Minister Florencio Randazzo predicted the president's share would rise as polls reported from her party's stronghold of densely populated Buenos Aires province.

"Count on me to continue pursuing the project," Fernandez vowed in her victory speech. "All I want is to keep collaborating ... to keep Argentina growing. I want to keep changing history."

Fernandez is Latin America's first woman to be re-elected as president, but the victory was personally bittersweet — the first without her husband and predecessor, Nestor Kirchner, who died of a heart attack last Oct. 27.

"This is a strange night for me," she said, describing her mix of emotions. "This man who transformed Argentina led us all and gave everything he had and more ... Without him, without his valor and courage, it would have been impossible to get to this point."

Thousands of jubilant, flag-waving people crowded into the capital's historic Plaza de Mayo to watch on a huge TV screen as she spoke from a downtown hotel, where her supporters interrupted so frequently with their chants that she lectured them as a mother would her children: "The worst that people can be is small. In history, you always must be bigger still — more generous, more thoughtful, more thankful."

Then, she showed her teeth, vowing to protect Argentina from outside threats or special interests.

"This woman isn't moved by any interest. The only thing that moves her is profound love for the country. Of that I'm responsible," Fernandez said.

Later, she appeared in the plaza as well, giving a rousing, second victory speech, her amplified voice echoing through the capital as she called on Argentina's youth to dedicate themselves to social projects nationwide.

Fernandez was on track to win a larger share of votes than any president since Argentina's democracy was restored in 1983, when Raul Alfonsin was elected with 52 percent. Her margin over Gov. Hermes Binner and five other candidates was wider even than the 1973 victory margin of her strongman hero, Juan Domingo Peron.

Her political coalition also hoped to regain enough seats in Congress to form new alliances and regain the control it lost in 2009. At play were 130 seats in the lower house and 24 in the Senate.

Fernandez suffered high negative ratings early in her presidency, but soared in popularity as a widow by softening her usually combative tone and proving her ability to command loyalty or respect from an unruly political elite.

Most voters polled beforehand said they wanted government stability to keep their financial situations improving in what has been one of Argentina's longest spells of economic growth in history.

Fernandez, 58, chose her youthful, guitar-playing, long-haired economy minister, Amado Boudou, as her running mate. Together, the pair championed Argentina's approach to the global financial crisis: nationalize private pensions and use central bank reserves to increase government spending rather than impose austerity measures, and force investors in foreign debt to suffer before ordinary citizens.

Argentina's world-record debt default in 2001 closed off most international lending, but it has kept the country booming ever since, with its economy expanding at twice the rate of Brazil's, economist Mark Weisbrot said.

The country faces tough challenges in 2012: Its commodities exports are vulnerable to a global recession, and economic growth is forecast to slow sharply in the coming year. Declining revenues will make it harder to raise incomes to keep up with inflation. Argentina's central bank is under pressure to spend reserves to maintain the peso's value against the dollar, while also guarding against currency shocks that could threaten Argentina's all-important trade with Brazil.

Boudou, 48, could now win attention as a potential successor to Fernandez, but navigating these storms will require much skill and good fortune.

Opposition candidates blamed Fernandez for rising inflation and increasing crime and accused her of politically manipulating economic data and trying to use government power to quell media criticism.

Former President Eduardo Duhalde, who fell from front-running rival to near-last in the polls, said in a dour closing speech that "the country is dancing on the Titanic," failing to prepare Argentina for another global economic crisis.

But Weisbrot said Argentina is in far better shape than most countries in the region to face such problems.

U.S. President Barack "Obama could take a lesson from this," said Weisbrot, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington. "It's an old-fashioned message of democracy: You deliver what you promise and people vote for you. It's kind of forgotten here in the U.S."

Binner, 68, a doctor and leader of a socialist party, said, "We know how to read the numbers, and we congratulate the lady president, but we also tell her that this force is Argentina's second-leading political force."

Ricardo Alfonsin, 59, a lawyer and congressional deputy with the traditional Radical Civic Union party and son of the former president, had 12 percent; Alberto Rodriguez Saa, 52, an attorney and governor of San Luis province whose brother Adolfo was president for a week, had 8; Duhalde, who preceded Kirchner as president, had 6 and leftist former lawmaker Jorge Altamira, 69, and congresswoman Elisa Carrio 54, had 2.

When Fernandez is inaugurated Dec. 10, her Front for Victory coalition will become the first political bloc to begin a third consecutive presidential term since 1928, when President Hipolito Yrigoyen of the Radical Civic Union took office, only to be toppled by a military coup two years later, said Leandro Morganfield, a historian at the University of Buenos Aires.

Fernandez appealed to Argentines not to allow the country "to be forced off course as has happened to us so often in our history."

"We have to think of a different country, where whomever comes builds on top of what's already been done. That's the Argentina I dream of, where we have continuity of national political projects for the country."

Nearly 78 percent of the nearly 29 million registered voters cast ballots in the country of 40 million.

___

Source: theindependentbd.com

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217 dead in Turkey quake

An earthquake of 7.2 magnitude on Sunday killed 217 people and injured 1,090 in eastern Turkey, the interior minister said.

A hundred people died in Van city and 117 in the Ercis district of Van province, said Interior Minister Idris Naim Sahin, adding 1,090 were injured.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan made an immediate visit to the quake region to see for himself the devastation.

He was being accompanied by six ministers.

The situation in Ercis is more grave, said Erdogan, adding that around 55 apartment buildings collapsed, raising fears that the toll could increase as many people were trapped under rubble.

"Search and rescue efforts will continue overnight," said Erdogan.

Television footage showed search and rescue teams recovering bodies from the collapsed buildings in Van and Ercis.

The teams were using electrical generator lights to help the search for trapped victims as night fell.

"An eight-storey apartment building collapsed," a local from Ercis told AFP.

"There are efforts to rescue people but the loss is big. I myself saw three to four dead," he added.

Most people are expected to spend the night outdoors, with the temperature expected to dip to three degrees Celsius (37 Fahrenheit).

The quake has mobilised Turkey to rush to the help of the victims.

Some 1,275 search and rescue teams from 38 Turkish cities as well as 145 ambulances were sent to the quake region, according to media reports.

The military said six battalions were also involved in search and rescue efforts, in a statement posted online.

Six helicopters, including four helicopter ambulances, as well as C-130 military cargo planes were sent to the area carrying tents, food and medicine.

Some 200 inmates fled the prison in Van province, when the building was damaged in the quake, media reports said. But 50 of the inmates returned to prison later after seeing their families, they added.

US President Barack Obama offered his condolences to the victims of the massive quake and said the United States stood ready to assist the country's authorities.

"We stand shoulder to shoulder with our Turkish ally in this difficult time, and are ready to assist the Turkish authorities," he said in a statement.

The epicentre of the quake, which struck at 1041 GMT, was at Tabanli in Van province, Turkey's Kandilli institute said. Two aftershocks had hit the villages of Ilikaynak and Gedikbulak in particular, it added.

Although the quake damaged Van's airport it did not disrupt the air traffic, the Anatolia news agency reported, citing civil aviation authorities. The Turkish airlines launched additional flights to Van.

The quake was also felt across the border in northwestern Iran, causing some panic in major cities, Iranian media reported. They did not report any deaths or serious damage.

The US Geological Survey initially measured the quake at 7.3 magnitude but later downgraded it to 7.2. It registered many aftershocks, the latest of which was of 6.0 magnitude.

The quake that struck Van, a large eastern city populated mainly by Kurds, was Turkey's strongest in years.

Earthquake-prone Turkey lies atop several fault lines.

In 1999, two strong quakes in the heavily populated and industrialised regions of northwest Turkey left some 20,000 dead. A powerful earthquake in the town of Caldiran in Van province killed 3,840 people in 1976.

Source: theindependentbd.com

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Sunday, 23 October 2011

PM leaves for Berlin today

Dhaka: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina leaves for Berlin Saturday morning to attend the World Health Summit-2011.

The Prime Minister will deliver a keynote speech at the Summit on October 23 (Sunday).

She will lead a high-powered delegation that will include the Health and Family Welfare Minister, Foreign Minister, Ambassador at Large at the Prime Minister’s Office, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, Health and Family Welfare Secretary, and five distinguished personalities.

The Prime Minister will also be accompanied by a business delegation from the apex trade body, Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI).

During the visit, Hasina will have official talks with German Chancellor Dr Angela Merkel on October 25 (Tuesday), followed by a luncheon and a joint press briefing.

The Prime Minister will be given the federal military honor.

A Foreign Ministry release said this will be a bilateral visit. Entire gamut of bilateral relations will be reviewed during the summit meeting.

The Prime Minister will attend a reception to be hosted by students of Bangla Pathsala at Bangladesh House in Berlin today.

On October 23 (Sunday), she will attend another reception to be hosted by Non-resident Bangladeshis (NRBs) in Germany at Hotel Adlon Kempiniski in Berlin.

After attending the World Health Summit, Hasina will join the presidential reception.

On October 24 (Monday), she will attend a seminar titled `Emerging Market-Bangladesh’ at Hotel Adlon in Berlin, to be organized by German Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and participated by leading German business leaders and potential investors.

Later, the Prime Minister will call on the President of German parliament (Bundestag).

Hasina is likely to attend a dinner to be hosted by the German-South Asian Parliamentary Group at Regent Hotel in Berlin.

German Environment Minister Rottgen, Economic Cooperation and Development Minister Dirk Niebel and Foreign Minister Dr Guido Westerwelle will meet the Prime Minister on October 25.

Hasina is expected to return home on October 26.

Source: theindependentbd.com

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Saudi Crown Prince dies

DUBAI: Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz al-Saud died at dawn on Saturday abroad, the country's royal court said in a statement carried by state media.

Sultan, who was thought to be aged about 86, had been in the United States for medical treatment since June.

As well as heir to the throne of the world's top oil exporter, he had been defense minister and minister of aviation for about four decades.

"With deep sorrow and sadness the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz mourns the death of his brother and his Crown Prince Sultan... who died at dawn this morning Saturday outside the kingdom following an illness," said the statement carried on state news agency SPA and state television.

Saudi television broke its schedules early on Saturday to broadcast Koranic verses accompanied by footage of the Kaaba in Mecca, Islam's holiest site.

Funeral services will be held in the Saudi capital Riyadh on Tuesday, SPA said.

Widely thought to be next in line after Sultan is Interior Minister Prince Nayef, who was named second-deputy prime minister in 2009.

King Abdullah is in his late 80s and underwent back surgery earlier this month but has been pictured since then in apparently good health.

The king was absent for three months late in 2010 while he underwent treatment for a herniated disc that caused blood to accumulate around his spine.

Prince Nayef, who is in his late 70s, has a reputation as being more conservative than either the crown prince or king.

Unlike in European monarchies, the line of succession does not move directly from father to eldest son, but has moved down a line of brothers born to the kingdom's founder Ibn Saud, who died in 1953.

Source: theindependentbd.com

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2nd days play abandoned

Chittagong: The second day’s play of the first Test of the Walton Test Series between Bangladesh and West Indies has been called off at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong on Saturday due to a damp outfield caused by overnight and early morning rain.

Officials decided to abandon the day's play after an inspection at 11:15am.

Play is scheduled to start half-an-hour early on day three, at 9:00am.

Half-centuries from opener Tamim Iqbal and skipper Mushfiqur Rahim took Bangladesh to a commanding 255 for four at the close of day one of the first Test on Friday

Bangladesh squad

Mushfiqur Rahim (c/wk), Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Shakib Al Hasan, Raqibul Hasan, Naeem Islam, Nasir Hossain, Shahriar Nafees, Rubel Hossain , Shahadat Hossain, and Elias Sunny.

West Indies squad

Darren Sammy (c), Carlton Baugh (wk), Darren Bravo, Devendra Bishoo, Kraigg Brathwaite, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Fidel Edwards, Kirk Edwards, Ravi Rampaul, Marlon Samuels, Lendl Simmons.

Source: theindependentbd.com

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Saturday, 22 October 2011

Gaddafi family demands body; NATO ends Libya war

MISRATA: NATO called an end to its air war in Libya, and the clan of Muammar Gaddafi demanded a chance to bury the body that lay on display in a meat locker after a death as brutal and chaotic as his 42-year rule.

In a statement on a Syria-based pro-Gaddafi television station, the ousted dictator's family asked for the bodies of Gaddafi, his son Mo'tassim, and others who were killed on Thursday by fighters who overran his hometown Sirte.

"We call on the UN, the Organization of the Islamic Conference and Amnesty International to force the Transitional Council to hand over the martyrs' bodies to our tribe in Sirte and to allow them to perform their burial ceremony in accordance with Islamic customs and rules," the statement said.

At an understated and sparsely-attended news conference late on Friday, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the Western alliance had taken a preliminary decision to call a halt to Operation Unified Protector on October 31.

Like other Western officials, Rasmussen expressed no regrets in public about the gruesome death of the deposed Libyan dictator, who was captured alive by the forces of the National Transitional Council but was brought dead to a hospital.

"We mounted a complex operation with unprecedented speed and conducted it with the greatest of care," Rasmussen said. "I'm very proud of what we have achieved."

The NATO operation, officially intended to protect civilians, effectively ended on Thursday with French warplanes blasting Gaddafi's convoy as he and others tried to escape a final stand in Sirte.

Gaddafi was captured wounded but alive hiding in a drain under a road. The world has since seen grainy film of him being roughed up by his captors while he pleads with them to respect his rights.

NTC officials have said Gaddafi later died of wounds in the ambulance, but the ambulance driver, Ali Jaghdoun, told Reuters that Gaddafi was already dead when he picked up the body.

"I didn't try to revive him because he was already dead," Jaghdoun said, in testimony that adds greater weight to the widespread assumption that Gaddafi was lynched.

The U.N. human rights arm said an investigation was needed to into whether he was summarily executed. The interim leaders have yet to decide what to do with the corpse.

BURIAL DISPUTE

In Misrata, a local commander, Addul-Salam Eleiwa, showed off the body, torso bare, on a mattress inside a metal-lined cold-store by a market on Friday. There was a bullet hole in his head.

"He will get his rights, like any Muslim. His body will be washed and treated with dignity. I expect he will be buried in a Muslim cemetery within 24 hours," he said.

Dozens of people, many with cellphone cameras, filed in to see that he was dead.

"There's something in our hearts we want to get out," said Abdullah al-Suweisi, 30, as he waited. "It is the injustice of 40 years. There is hatred inside. We want to see him."

In Tripoli, Gaddafi's death prompted a carnival-like celebration, with fireworks, a bouncy castle and candy floss for the children. "Muammar, bad," one small girl said to foreign journalists in English. "Boom boom."

"For some people from outside Libya it could look wrong that we are celebrating a death with our children," said one man with a child on his shoulders. "But it was 42 years with the devil."

RISKS OF DIVISION

Saif al-Islam, Gaddafi's son and heir-apparent remains at large, believed by NTC officials to have escaped from besieged Sirte and headed for a southern border.

Without the glue of hatred for Gaddafi and his tribe to unite the factions, some fear a descent into the kind of strife that bedevils Iraq after Saddam Hussein. Optimists say that so far Libya's new rulers have quarreled but not fought.

"Can an inclusive, effective national government be formed? Yes, if factions can avoid fighting," Jon Marks, chairman of Britain's Cross Border Information consultancy said.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said the NTC had promised to explain how Gaddafi was killed.

"They're dealing with the death itself as well as the aftermath in as transparent a way as I think they can," he said. "They've fought bravely to liberate their country from this dictator. And, you know, he met an ignominious end yesterday."

Source: theindependentbd.com

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Pakistan, three others elected to UN council

UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan, Morocco, Togo and Guatemala were elected on Friday to the 15-nation U.N. Security Council for 2012 and 2013, and Islamabad's envoy said he looked forward to working with fellow council member India.

The race for a fifth council seat, representing Eastern Europe, was adjourned until Monday after neither of the two candidates, Azerbaijan and Slovenia, was able to win a two-thirds majority of the General Assembly after nine votes.

In the most competitive council elections for years, only Guatemala ran unopposed within its region. Pakistan scraped through in the first round of voting, defeating Kyrgyzstan for an Asian seat with the minimum required tally.

Morocco scored an easy first-round victory, while the small West African state of Togo won out in the third round with a tally more than double Mauritania's. That saved sub-Saharan Africa the embarrassment of ending up with only one of the continent's three seats against two for Arab North Africa.

For Eastern Europe, Azerbaijan and Slovenia battled it out all day after a third candidate, Hungary, pulled out after trailing in the first ballot. The race swung both ways, but Azerbaijan led Slovenia by the end of the day with 113 votes to 77, still 14 votes short of clinching a win.

Pakistani Ambassador Abdullah Hussain Haroon welcomed his country's election to the United Nations' elite body and said he expected to work well with the ambassador of Pakistan's archrival India, Hardeep Singh Puri, next year.

"You have seen that the usual tendencies have not erupted between us and that is a good factor," Haroon said. "Perhaps both of us have been beneficial in starting dialogue between both the countries."

India joined the council this year and will stay through 2012. India and Pakistan have fought three wars, mainly over Kashmir, since gaining independence from Britain in 1947.

The last time the two nuclear-armed states served together on the council was in 1977. U.N. diplomats said they do not expect any regional tension as a result of Pakistan joining again. Pakistan has served six previous council terms,

RESISTING SANCTIONS

The Security Council is the powerhouse of the United Nations, with the ability to impose sanctions and dispatch peacekeeping forces.

There are five veto-holding, nuclear-armed permanent members of the council -- the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China -- and 10 temporary elected members without vetoes. With India and Pakistan on the council next year, seven of the 15 members will be nuclear powers.

Lebanon, Nigeria, Gabon, Bosnia and Brazil come off the council in January. The four temporary members that will remain through 2012 besides India are Colombia, Germany, Portugal and South Africa.

Western diplomats said it is likely that Pakistan will take over from Brazil by joining Russia and China, India and South Africa in resisting renewed U.S. and European pressure to sanction nations like Syria and Iran.

In Africa, the African Union endorsed only Togo and Mauritania. Morocco does not belong to the AU, having pulled out of its predecessor, the Organization of African Unity, in 1984 after a Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic proclaimed by the independence-seeking Polisario Front in the disputed Western Sahara was admitted to the OAU.

Morocco's crushing council victory, with 151 of the 193 assembly members supporting it, looked likely to bolster Rabat in its continuing dispute with Polisario. Morocco annexed Western Sahara after colonial power Spain pulled out in 1975.

Moroccan Foreign Minister Taieb Fassi Fihri told reporters that his country had prevailed "despite the attempts which have been made, but in vain, to exclude Morocco from this competition" because it did not belong to the AU.

"Today a broad majority of African states decided to show solidarity with Morocco, to show confidence in Morocco, to support Morocco," he said. "Our candidature was legitimate because of the principle of rotation."

Morocco has been on the Security Council twice before, most recently in 1992-1993.

Source: theindependentbd.com

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Thursday, 20 October 2011

Enclave people now free from captive life: Hasina

Dahagram: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday said people of Dahagram and Angorpota enclaves have now got freedom from captive life with the 24-hour access to the Tin Bigha Corridor connecting the two enclaves with the mainland Bangladesh.

“You are now free. You won’t need to lead a captive life any longer,” she told the local people at a function at Dahagram Bilateral High School ground after inaugurating the electric transmission line connecting the two enclaves.

Mentioning her talks with the Indian Prime Minister in New Delhi in 2009, Hasina said she had then pressed for opening the Tin Bigha Corridor for 24 hours to enable free movement of the enclave people.

“During his visit to Dhaka on September 6, the Indian Prime Minister approved it,” she said.

Hasina, who earlier inaugurated a 10-bed hospital at Dahagram Union Health Complex, said the enclave people will get medical treatment from the hospital.

She went round different wards of the hospital and talked to patients.

The Prime Minister also promised to establish a college in Dahagram enclave.

Earlier, Hasina arrived here this (Wednesday) morning amid huge enthusiasm and festivity among the enclave people.

A special Air Force plane, carrying the Prime Minister, landed at Syedpur airport in Nilphamari at 10:20 am.

From Syedpur, Hasina traveled to Dahagram union health complex by an army helicopter. She was received by local MPs and Awami League leaders.

Later, Sheikh Hasina attended an opinion-exchange meeting with the local people.

Jatiya Party chairman HM Ershad, Foreign Minister Dipu Moni, Health Minister Dr AFM Ruhal Haque and PM’s advisor Dr Gowher Rizvi were present.

This was the Prime Minister’s first visit to the enclaves after the signing of a deal with India for round-the-clock access to Dahagram and Angarpota enclaves through the Tin Bigha Corridor.

The deal was signed during Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Dhaka on September 6.

The Prime Minister is scheduled to visit the Tin Bigha Corridor and address a public rally at the Patgram Government College in the afternoon.

Source: theindependentbd.com

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Wednesday, 19 October 2011

4 add’l judges appointed in HC

Dhaka: Four new additional judges were appointed to the High Court Division of the Supreme Court on Tuesday, according to a gazette notification.

The judges are-- AKM Shahidul Haque and Abu Taher Md SAifur Rahman, Shahidul Karim, and Mohammad Jahangir Hossain.

AKM Shahidul Haque and Abu Taher Md Saifur Rahman are Supreme Court lawyers, Shahidul Karim is the incumbent secretary to the law and justice division of law ministry, and Mohammad Jahangir Hossain is a Dhaka district judge.

President M Zillur Rahman made the appointment as per article 98 of the Constitution.

Six other additional judges were appointed to the High Court earlier on October 4.

Their appointment will take effect from the day of their taking oath.

Additional judges were generally appointed contractually for two years.

Sources said all 10 newly appointed additional judges will be administered oaths by Chief Justice Md Muzammel Hossain in a day or two.

Wednesday’s appointment of the judges bring the total the number of HC judges to 98.

Source: theindependentbd.com

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HC questions legality of mobile courts

Dhaka: The High Court on Wednesday issued a rule asking the government to explain within four weeks why mobile courts conducted by the executive magistrate should not be declared illegal.

Mobile court, which is conducted mainly at the instance of the executive magistrates has been regularised through the Mobile Court Act, 2009.

It also issued a rule upon the government to explain why the sections---5, 6 (1, 2, 4), 7, 8 (1), 9, 10, 11, 13 and 15 of the Mobile Court Act, 2009 should not be declared illegal.

The HC bench, comprising Justice Mirza Hossain Haider and Justice Anwarul Haque passed the order.

Kamruzzaman Khan, chairman of the Aesthetic Property Development Ltd, filed the writ petition on October 11 challenging the legality of the sections of the act- 5, 6 (1, 2, 4), 7, 8 (1), 9, 10, 11, 13 and 15. The Act contains 17 sections.

Section 5 of the Act empowers district magistrate and executive magistrates to hold mobile court. According to section 6(1) of the Act, the magistrate can only try a person if the culpability falls under the offences specified in the schedule of the Act and if the magistrate catches him/her red-handed and if he/she confesses to his/her crime. Section 6 (3), (4) and (5) provides that if the offence is not incorporated in the laws in the schedule or if it is more grievous in nature, then the matter would be referred to the formal court and the mobile court will cease the authority to try the offence.

In accordance with section 7(1), after taking cognisance, the magistrate will frame written charge against the offender and ask if he pleads guilty and, if the accused person refuses to confess, the magistrate asks for explanation. If such explanation seems to be satisfactory the magistrate may discharge him, otherwise the magistrate shall send the accused for formal trial in regular court.

The magistrate can punish by imprisonment or fine or both if the accused person confesses. Otherwise, he cannot punish any individual under this Act.

Section 8(1) of the Act puts a limitation that the mobile court cannot impose more than two years of imprisonment.

As per the provision of section 13, an aggrieved person can prefer an appeal to the district magistrate against the decision of an executive magistrate and to the sessions judge against the decision of district magistrate-a system of double check should there be any apprehension of arbitrary use of power.

It is the plenary legislative (Article 65 of the constitution of Bangladesh) power of the parliament of Bangladesh by dint of which it enacted the law, and, this law is to be obeyed so long as it remains valid. This law can be invalidated either by the Parliament or by the High Court Division of the Supreme Court on the ground of unconstitutionality.

The petitioner stated in the writ that the authority of executive magistrates to conduct the court is unconstitutional and conflicts directly with the milestone verdict of the Masdar Hossain case (Secretary, Ministry of Finance Vs Md Masdar Hossain, 20 (2002) BLD, AD) which restored the judiciary’s supremacy over executive authority of the state in judicial procedure.

The petitioner sought HC directive to issue a rule upon the government why the sections should not be declared illegal.

A mobile court earlier on September 14 convicted the petitioner for 30 days under the section 8 (1) of the building construction act 1952.

The HC bench also stayed the sentence and conviction of the petitioner for four months.

Source: theindependentbd.com

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