Taslima Nasrin: November 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
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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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