Monday, January 28, 2013

JU Rhythms with birds, butterfly and red lily


 Jahangirnagar University accustomed as a fully residential accessible university of Bangladesh in 1970 is full of natural beauty adjacent to the capital city of the country. Every year migratory birds come here on the ever green university campus relying on the safety and security honored to them by the students, teachers and all walks of peoples.

It may be that the red lily and green plants specially draw the birds to the campus of nature. The university has now 34 Departments and Six Faculties along with two Institutes, with more than fifteen thousand students, and about five hundred academics adherent to teaching and research. 
Its beauties are in its land structure, lakes, migratory birds, different plants, medicinal herbs, cultural activities, writers friendly environment, academic excellence, values for humanity, student -teacher relationship, media corner through journalists association, TSC, cafeteria, exceptional views of dormitories and more over red lilies. It is really an excellent reading place. Its teachers and students feel pleasure to introduce themselves as Jahangirnagarian also. 

In a third world country like Bangladesh where resources are very limited, peoples basic needs are not possible to be entirely met, law and order is not enough for security of its civilians, police and administration are mostly biased on political consideration, good governance and human rights are the issues of seminar and discussions only, values are near to be abolished, democracy is the slogan for all autocratic decisions, jobs and employments are under quota and bribe system merely instead of merit then what kind of change the university teachers and students will bring in future it is very important for the people.
People pay highly for the higher education in Bangladesh. But the university education is not at that level where student will practice free thinking, cultural activities, even academic excellence because of polluted student politics and parallel partisan teachers politics also. 

The sprawling arresting campus is anchored 30 kilometres from the basic Dhaka, able-bodied affiliated with a civic highway. The aboriginal assembly of Independent Bangladesh accepted the university its Charter in 1973 beneath which the university is getting operated. 
The badge of the university bears the civic annual ‘white lily’ (Lilium condidu) with three petals belted by strips of a acceptable floral architecture with the name of the university in Bangla ensconcing in a semi-circle like a band of flowers. Located at Savar abreast Dhaka, Jahangirnagar University is one of the arch Universities in Bangladesh. 

 It was formally launched on 12th January 1970 by its aboriginal adjudicator Rear Admiral S.M. Ahsan, Governor of above East Pakistan. After Emergence of Bangladesh the Government allowable the Jahangirnagar University Act 1973, which repealed the antecedent authorization and renamed the University as Jahangirnagar University. 

The University owes its present appearance to this act beneath which it is now functioning. Teaching Establishment: 20th August, 1970; Academic Year: 1st July to 30th June and Land Area: 697.56 Acre. 

However, academic excellence and research activities leading unfolding the new eras of peoples living standard and livelihood security with improved governance in the country can immensely increase the image of the university. Good luck Jahangirnagar!

Saturday, January 26, 2013

Beautiful Janagirnagar University

Jahangirnagar University accustomed as a fully residential accessible university of Bangladesh in 1970  is full of natural beauty adjacent to the capital city of the country.

Every year migratory birds come here on the ever green university campus relying on the safety and security honored to them by the students, teachers and all walks of peoples. It may be that the red lily and green plants specially draw the birds to the campus of nature.    
 The university has now 34 Departments and Six Faculties along with two Institutes, with more than fifteen thousand students, and about five hundred academics adherent to teaching and research. 

Its beauties are in its land structure, lakes, migratory birds, different plants, medicinal herbs, cultural activities, writers friendly environment, academic excellence, values for humanity, student -teacher relationship, media corner through journalists association, TSC, cafeteria, exceptional views of dormitories and more over red lilies. It is really an excellent reading place. Its teachers and students feel pleasure to introduce themselves as Jahangirnagarian also.
 
In a third world country like Bangladesh where resources are very limited, peoples basic needs are not possible to be entirely met, law and order is not enough for security of its civilians, police and administration are mostly biased on political consideration, good governance and human rights are the issues of seminar and discussions only, values are near to be abolished, democracy is the slogan for all autocratic decisions, jobs and employments are under quota and bribe system merely instead of merit then what kind of change the university teachers and students will bring in future it is very important for the people.

People pay highly for the higher education in Bangladesh. But the university education is not at that level where student will practice free thinking, cultural activities, even academic excellence because of polluted student politics and parallel partisan teachers politics also.    

The sprawling arresting campus is anchored 30 kilometres from the basic Dhaka, able-bodied affiliated with a civic highway. The aboriginal assembly of Independent Bangladesh accepted the university its Charter in 1973 beneath which the university is getting operated.

The badge of the university bears the civic annual ‘white lily’ (Lilium condidu) with three petals belted by strips of a acceptable floral architecture with the name of the university in Bangla ensconcing in a semi-circle like a band of flowers. Located at Savar abreast Dhaka, Jahangirnagar University is one of the arch Universities in Bangladesh. 

It was formally launched on 12th January 1970 by its aboriginal adjudicator Rear Admiral S.M. Ahsan, Governor of above East Pakistan. After Emergence of Bangladesh the Government allowable the Jahangirnagar University Act 1973, which repealed the antecedent authorization and renamed the University as Jahangirnagar University. The University owes its present appearance to this act beneath which it is now functioning. 

Teaching Establishment: 20th August, 1970; Academic Year: 1st July to 30th June and Land Area: 697.56 Acre.

However, academic excellence and research activities leading unfolding the new eras of peoples living standard and livelihood security with improved governance in the country can immensely increase the image of the university.
Good luck Jahangirnagar!      

Monday, January 14, 2013

Irani Argo wins Golden Globes 2013

"Argo," the retelling of the dramatic rescue of American diplomats during the Iran hostage crisis, and "Les Miserables," a big-screen adaptation of the Broadway musical, were the big winners at this year's Golden Globes. 

But the night truly belonged to co-hosts Tina Fey and Amy Poehler whose good-natured irreverence was a welcome balance after the last three years when British comedian Ricky Gervais turned the show into a roast. 

The annual honors by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association unofficially launches the movie industry's awards season. Here are the five most memorable moments from Sunday's ceremony.

Indian army chief threatens Pakistan

India's army chief threatened to retaliate against Pakistan for the killing of two soldiers in fighting near the border of the disputed region of Kashmir, saying he had asked his commanders there to be aggressive in the face of provocation. 

General Bikram Singh's remarks come amid mounting public anger in India after Delhi accused Pakistani soldiers of slitting the throat of one of the soldiers and decapitating him. 

Despite each side blaming the other for the worst outbreak of violence in the area since a ceasefire was agreed nine years ago, analysts said a breakdown in ties was highly unlikely. The two nations have fought three wars, two over Kashmir, since independence in 1947 and are now both nuclear-armed. 

Calling the beheading of the soldier "gruesome", Singh told a news conference: "We reserve the right to retaliate at a time and place of our choosing." Singh said the Indian army would honour the ceasefire in Kashmir, so long as Pakistan did, but would respond immediately to any violation of the truce. 

"I expect all my commanders at the Line of Control to be both aggressive and offensive in the face of provocation and fire," he said. Last week's fighting in the Himalayan region both nations claim comes at a time when the two sides have made some progress in repairing ties, notably by opening trade links. 


Both armies have lost two soldiers each in the fighting along parts of the 740-km (460-mile) de facto border this month. "The attack on January 8 was premeditated, a pre-planned activity. Such an operation requires planning, detailed reconnaissance," Singh said. His remarks came hours before local commanders met at a crossing point on the ceasefire line for the first time since the fighting erupted to try and reduce tensions. Both sides lodged protests, accusing each other of ceasefire violations. 

The ceasefire in Kashmir has held since it went into effect in November 2003, surviving even the crisis in ties after the Mumbai attacks in November 2008 by Pakistan-based militants. Analysts said it was unlikely the two armies would escalate the situation further and that Singh's remarks may well have been made to maintain the morale of his troops and to respond to a public outcry over the mutilation of both soldiers' bodies.

Saturday, January 12, 2013

UN envoy against military solution in Syria

The U.N. and Arab League special envoy to Syria stressed Friday (January 11, 2013) that there is "no military solution" to the brutal civil war being fought in the Arab nation. Lakhdar Brahimi made the remark after meeting with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov and U.S. Deputy Secretary of State William Burns at the United Nations offices in Geneva, Switzerland. 

"We are all very, very deeply aware of the immense suffering of the Syrian people which has gone for far too long. And we all stressed the need for a speedy end to bloodshed, the destruction, and all forms violence in Syria," he said. "We stressed again, in our view, there is no military solution to this conflict." 

Syria accused Brahimi of bias Thursday (January 10, 2013), casting a shadow on efforts to end a war that, according to the United Nations, has killed more than 60,000 people in nearly two years. 

Brahimi has "deviated from the essence of his mission and clearly unveiled his bias to circles known for conspiring against Syria and the interests of the Syrian people," Syrian state media reported. 

The statement from Damascus was a response to a BBC interview in which Brahimi in effect called on al-Assad to resign. He said the president would have no place in the transition to a post-conflict Syria. "I think what people are saying is, a family ruling for 40 years is a little bit too long," Brahimi said, according to the interview Thursday. 

Al-Assad took over from his late father, who seized power in 1970 and ruled for three decades. Brahimi said both the United States and Russia want to help end the war and forge a future. The United States long has called for al-Assad to resign. 


Russia, which historically has had close ties with Syria, has blocked tough action against the government in the U.N. Security Council. "I'm absolutely certain the Russians are as preoccupied as I am, as Americans are, by the bad situation that exists in Syria and its continuing deterioration, and I'm absolutely certain they would like to contribute to its solution," he said. He cited the "absolute necessity" for pushing for a peaceful solution. "It is the wider international community," he said, particularly Security Council members, who "can really create the opening that is necessary to start effectively solving the problem." Securing chemical weapons The escalating conflict and the president's efforts to retain his grip on power have sparked a push to ensure that chemical weapons are secure. 


U.S. officials say they are working with nations in the Middle East to secure Syria's chemical and biological weapons sites. "We're not talking about ground troops, but it depends on what ... happens in a transition," Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Thursday. Asked whether he had ruled out putting U.S. troops in Syria to secure such weapons, Panetta said: "You always have to keep the possibility that, if there is a peaceful transition and international organizations get involved, that they might ask for assistance in that situation. But in a hostile situation, we're not planning to ask for that." 


Russian navy holding exercises off Syria's coast Ships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet are heading to the eastern Mediterranean for exercises, the Russian Defense Ministry said. A tactical group of Black Sea Fleet warships, headed by the cruiser Moskva, will undertake exercises in the eastern sector of the Mediterranean Sea. The tanker Ivan Bubnov has fueled the ships, and emergency drills have been carried out for the upcoming exercises. The tanker filled up on fuel and water Thursday at the Cyprus port of Larnaka. A Baltic Fleet group consisting of the patrol vessel Yaroslav Mudry and tanker Lena will head for the eastern Mediterranean, where the two ships will practice stores transfers at sea. The patrol vessel will carry out anti-submarine warfare drills. Russia has a maintenance naval base at Tartus on the coast. 

No let-up in refugee flight The United Nations said Friday that more than 612,000 people have been registered as Syrian refugees or are "being assisted as such." There were 194,769 in Lebanon, 176,569 in Jordan, 153,163 in Turkey, 69,282 in Iraq, 13,292 in Egypt and 5,059 elsewhere in North Africa, the U.N. refugee agency said. 

"Even with the winter preparation work that has been done in recent months, many refugees in both camp and noncamp situations are facing particularly cold and damp conditions. 

The Syrian crisis started in March 2011, when peaceful protesters demanding democracy and reforms were met by a fierce government crackdown, which spiraled into an armed opposition movement and a civil war. At least 106 people were killed Friday, the opposition Local Coordination Committees of Syria said. Among them were 40 people killed in shelling by artillery and jet fighters in Hasaka province, in the northeastern part of the country.

Idlib captured by Syrian rebels, oppositions demand

Syrian rebel fighters said Friday (January 11, 2013) they have captured a strategic northern military base used by the government to bomb opposition strongholds. Rebel fighters and militants from various Islamic groups, including the jihadist al-Nusra Front, took part in the offensive, an opposition spokesman said.

They've seized control of buildings, ammunition and military equipment at the base in Idlib province, the opposition said, signaling a major blow to President Bashar al-Assad's forces. "They are taking credit now for having taken the air base," U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters Friday. 

"And, as you know, we consider this significant on two fronts. "First of all, to ground some of the air assets of the Assad regime that they've been using against civilians. And, secondly, to break their ability to resupply in the north." 

Pentagon weighs how to secure Syria's chemical weapons. The strategic base has been used by government forces to send explosives to areas in the north, according to the opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. In addition to housing about government 400 soldiers, the group said, warplanes that attack the region were taking off from there. 

"The Taftanaz air base has been completely liberated," said Hamza Abu Hussam, a spokesman for the Binnish Coordination Committee, a local opposition group. "I went down to see with my own eyes and was able to get in." 

Opposition forces from various groups cheer and chant "God is great," purportedly after they took over the military airport.  

Syria the most dangerous country of world

Of all the terrible conflicts facing the world in 2013, Syria is undoubtedly the most complex and dangerous. Violence has left four million people inside Syria in desperate need of help -- shelter, food, education, clean water, health care and protection -- and has uprooted two million inside the country and sent 600,000 fleeing the horrors of war into neighboring countries.

Now a bitter winter is the new enemy. Syria's children suffer the most. At least half of all those affected by the conflict are children. Too many have been injured or killed; too many have seen family and friends die, their homes and schools reduced to rubble. 

The good news is UN aid is reaching approximately 1.5 million Syrians, even in areas of fighting -- children are being vaccinated, and temporary schools are being set up, families are being fed and sheltered -- thanks to UN work and to the valiant, efforts of many partners like the Syrian Arab Red Crescent. 

But UN could do so much more. There are areas inside Syria where UN ability to deliver is intermittent at best; where UN cannot reach those in need of their help. UN appeals to all the parties involved in the conflict to grant unrestricted humanitarian access inside Syria. Sadly, if this appeal continues to go unheeded, UN fears the already horrific level of suffering will become even worse. 


The Refugees with each passing day, and each passing week it becomes harder for Syrians to endure. Most cannot flee and find safe havens in neighboring countries. Some find precarious refuge with friends or the kindness of strangers in another town. Others shelter in abandoned, unheated buildings or makeshift camps. 

Many find themselves moving from one place to another, again and again as the conflict spreads. Living conditions in all areas of the country are deteriorating rapidly. It is not only the violence that people fear, but the combined threat of hunger, cold and illness. Neighboring countries have opened their borders to 600,000 Syrian refugees and, with the help of humanitarian organizations like UN, offer basic support for their survival. 

But even they face difficult challenges. Most refugees are children who have escaped with mothers and grandmothers. Now, many have been refugees for 21 months. It has been UNHCR's job to register them and provide them with shelter and basic relief items like mattresses, blankets and kitchen sets. 

In most places, WFP vouchers allow them to buy fresh food from the market. UNICEF helps children overcome their trauma, gets them into schools, and gives them with books and supplies and access to better health. Host communities open their homes and their hearts. Host governments provide medical and other community services. 

As the numbers of refugees grow, so does the strain on these host governments. The resources provided by Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey and Iraq are dangerously stretched. No one can predict how long this will last. What is needed now is support from the entire international community to asylum countries and organizations like UN to help us do more. 

In December, the U.N. appealed for $1.5 billion for the humanitarian response both inside and outside Syria and UN are urging donors to contribute more. If the conflict can't be stopped now, the least we can do is ease the suffering. What's next for Syria in 2013?

Friday, January 11, 2013

Acid attack on University Teachers in Bangladesh

Begum Rokeya University of Bangladesh has been declared closed for an indefinite period by the university authorities today (January 11, 2013) in a sequel of first time ever acid attack on teachers of the university. Assistant Prof Matiur Rahman of management studies and Lecturer Tuhin Wadud of Bangla – were said to be critically injured for acid attack on them. 

Earlier in the day, ruling party’s student front Bangladesh Chhatra League activists, attacked the demonstrating teachers and students. After the attacks, the demonstrators started a hunger-strike programme. 

Registrar Shahjahan Ali Mandal told that an emergency meeting of the Academic Council held at around 9:30pm at the VC’s residence took the decision. 

VC Mia is in Dhaka on being called by Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid. “The meeting has decided to indefinitely suspend all academic and administrative activities of the university,” he said and added Around evening, the university authorities slapped a ban on all types of demonstration on the campus. 

The decision was followed by the institution’s closure. Braving the embargo, the demonstrators are pressing on with their programmes. A large number of police have been deployed on the campus to avert any unpleasant incident. 

A leader of the demonstrating teachers, M Hafizur Rahman, said they will continue with their movements as they were left with no options after the attack. “Our demonstration will continue until our demand is realised,” he said. 

The demonstrators alleged that Chhatra League activists detonated crude bombs and threw acid on them around 10am. At least 18 demonstrators have been injured in the attack. Among them, two teachers of the university -- Assistant Prof Matiur Rahman of management studies and Lecturer Tuhin Wadud of Bangla – were said to be critically injured. 

Rangpur Medical College and Hospital Director Dr Golam Mostafa had told bdnews24.com that faces of the duo were completely burned but added they were not in danger of losing their eyesight. 

One of the injured teachers, Hafizur Rahman, alleged they were against VC Mia because he was neck-deep in corruption. A faction of the university’s teachers, united under the banner of ‘Sachetan Shikkhak Samaj’, has been demonstrating over the past several days over four-point charter of demands including the VC’s removal. 

They were later joined by a group of students under the ‘Sammilita Chhatra Samaj’. The demonstrators erected a podium in front of the VC’s office on Saturday and had been demonstrating there since.

Mali seeks France military help

Mali asked for military help from France after residents of the strategic northern town of Konna said Islamist rebels drove out the Malian army on Thursday (January 10, 2013), the fiercest fighting since militants took control of the country's north nine months ago. 

"We took the barracks and we control all of the town of Konna," MUJWA rebel group spokesman Oumar Ould Hamaha told Reuters. "The soldiers fled, abandoning their heavy weapons and armored vehicles."

The fall of Konna, about 600 km (375 miles) northeast of the capital Bamako, was a major setback to government forces, which said earlier on Thursday they were making headway against the alliance of al Qaeda-linked rebels. 

The UN Security Council convened emergency consultations in New York and agreed on a statement in which the members "express their grave concern over the reported military movements and attacks by terrorist and extremist groups in the north of Mali, in particular their capture of the city of Konna. "This serious deterioration of the situation threatens even more the stability and integrity of Mali, and constitutes a direct threat to international peace and security," the council said after the meeting, which was requested by France. 

It also repeated calls for restoration of democracy in Mali and urged UN members "to provide assistance to the Malian Defence and Security Forces in order to reduce the threat posed by terrorist organizations and associated groups." French UN Ambassador Gerard Araud confirmed receipt of a request from the Malian government for military assistance and said the "nature of the response to the letter will be announced in Paris tomorrow." 

US Ambassador Susan Rice described the request for help from Mali, which was sent to the Security Council: "It wasn't specific, but it basically said, 'Help, France.'" Western and regional governments are keen to dislodge the Islamists from a desert zone of northern Mali larger than France, which they captured in April, amid concerns they may use it as a launch pad to stage attacks. 

Konna was the last buffer between the rebels and Mopti, about 50 km (30 miles) south, which is the main town in the region and is seen as the gateway to the country's north. 

After hours of gun battles, heavily armed Islamist fighters paraded in triumph through Konna's centre, saying they would push on to take Mopti and its neighboring town of Sevare, residents said. 

Galaxy crash makes largest spiral: AAS

Astronomers have spotted the largest known spiral galaxy - by accident. A team was looking through data from the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (Galex) satellite for star-forming regions around a galaxy called NGC 6872, reports BBC online. 

But they were shocked to see a vast swathe of ultraviolet light from young stars, indicating that the galaxy is actually big enough to accommodate five of our Milky Way galaxies within it. The find was reported at the American Astronomical Society meeting in the US. 

NGC 6872, a galaxy about 212 million light-years away in the constellation Pavo, was already known to be among the largest spiral galaxies. Near it sits a lens-shaped or lenticular galaxy called IC 4970, which appears to have crashed through the spiral in recent astronomical times. 

Rafael Eufrasio of the Catholic University of America and Nasa's Goddard Space Flight Center and colleagues from the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil and the European Southern Observatory in Chile were interested in a number of regions away from the galaxy.

"I was not looking for the largest spiral - it just came as a gift," Eufrasio told BBC News. Galex - a space telescope designed to search for the ultraviolet light that newly born stars put out - hinted that NGC 6872 was made much larger in size by the collision. The team went on to use data from a range of other telescopes including the Very Large Telescope, the Two Micron All-Sky Survey and the Spitzer space telescope - each of which sees in a particular set of colours, in turn evidencing stars of varying ages. 

They found the youngest stars in the outer reaches of the galaxy's enormous spiral arms, getting progressively older toward the centre. That suggests a wave of star formation that travelled down the arms, set off by the collision with IC 4970, with the newest stellar neighbourhoods pushing the galaxy into the top spot in terms of size. 

"It's been known to be among the largest for two decades, but it's much larger than we thought," explained Eufrasio. "The galaxy that collided with the [central disc of NGC 6872] splashed stars all over the place - 500,000 light years away." 

Besides being one for the record books, NGC 6872 updates the catalogue of known galaxy smash-ups, demonstrating how dramatically galaxies can be changed and added to by collisions. 

"It shows the evolution of galaxies in the larger context of the Universe - how the large galaxies we had before were accreted from small clumps in the early Universe," Eufrasio said. "We're just seeing one example of two interacting galaxies but in the past that happened much more often - that's how the big [spiral galaxy] discs we have were probably formed. Putting that in a larger context, it's a very cool system."

Kurdish women killed in Paris under Police hunt

French police are hunting the killers of three Kurdish women activists found shot dead in Paris on Thursday (January 10, 2013). The bodies of Sakine Cansiz - a co-founder of the militant nationalist PKK - and of two others were found in a Kurdish information centre, reports BBC online. 

The three women were last seen inside the information centre on Wednesday afternoon. Later, a member of the Kurdish community tried to visit the centre but found the doors were locked. Their bodies - all three bearing gunshot wounds - were found in the early hours on Thursday. One of them was Sakine Cansiz, who was detained and tortured in Turkey in the 1980s, and was close to Ocalan. A second woman has been named as Fidan Dogan, 32, who worked in the information centre. She was also the Paris representative of the Brussels-based Kurdistan National Congress. The third, named as Leyla Soylemez, was a young activist.  

France and Turkey both condemned the killings. The motive for the shootings is unclear. Some 40,000 people have died in the 25-year conflict between the Turkish state and the PKK. 

However, Turkey has recently begun talks with the jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, with the aim of persuading the group to disarm. "Rest assured that French authorities are determined to get to the bottom of these intolerable acts," French Interior Minister Manuel Valls said, adding that the killings were "surely an execution". 

French President Francois Hollande described the killings as "horrible". "The investigation is ongoing and I think we ought to wait to find out the reasons [for the killings] and those behind them," he said. 

Turkish government spokesman Bulent Arinc condemned the killings, saying: "This is utterly wrong. I express my condolences." 

The BBC's James Reynolds in Turkey says two rival theories have emerged about the killings. The deputy chairman of the ruling party, Husein Celik, said that the killings appeared to be the result of an internal Kurdish feud. The theory was later picked up by other officials and commentators in the Turkish media, who suggested that PKK factions opposed to the talks were to blame. But Kurdish activists said the killings were carried out by forces in the Turkish state itself who wanted to derail the talks. 

BBC correspondent says that in Turkey many believe that there is a so-called "deep state" - a powerful nationalistic establishment which seeks to undermine the work of democratic governments and activists.

The PKK took up arms in 1984, and demands greater autonomy for Turkey's Kurds, who are thought to comprise up to 20% of the population. It is regarded by Turkey, the US and European Union as a terrorist organisation, because of its attacks on Turkish security forces and civilians. In 2012 it stepped up its attacks, leading to the fiercest fighting in decades, but violence has subsided during the winter.

China on Wrong over disputed islands: Japanese PM

Reaffirming his hawkish stance on China, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Friday (January 11, 2013) that Japan will not negotiate with Beijing over a contested cluster of uninhabited islands, and that China was "wrong" for allowing violent protests over the territorial dispute. 

Abe, who took office just over two weeks ago, had much warmer words for South Korea, despite strained ties with Seoul over a separate territorial spat and other issues. 

Abe said he hoped to establish a trusting relationship with president-elect Park Geun-hye as soon as possible. "Both nations share liberal and democratic values, and have respect for basic human rights and the rule of law," said Abe. 

He spoke as US officials prepared to visit Japan and South Korea to ensure the key American allies are committed to mending their relationship. Abe, who has declared economic growth to be his top priority, made the comments at a press conference where he announced more than 20 trillion yen ($224 billion) in new stimulus to jumpstart Japan's anemic economy. The aim is to boost growth by 2 percent and create 600,000 jobs, he said. 


Tensions with China — Japan's top trading partner — are likely to complicate that task. A decision by the Japanese government to buy a group of tiny islands in the East China Sea from their private Japanese owners in September set off protests in China that damaged Japanese-owned factories and stores around the country. 

Boycotts of Japanese products in China have hurt Japan's exporters and added to uncertainties over their extensive investments in mainland China. Toyota and Nissan have seen vehicle sales in China drop sharply in recent months. 

Asked how he could maintain his staunch stance on the East China Sea islands, called Senkaku in Japanese and Diaoyu in Chinese, while protecting Japan's substantial business interests in China, Abe blamed Beijing for any deterioration in business ties. 

"It was wrong for China, as a country responsible to the international community, to achieve a political goal by allowing damages to Japanese-affiliated companies and Japanese nationals that have made contributions to Chinese economy," Abe said. 

"I want to clearly state that." Abe warned that such an approach would not only hurt bilateral ties but also negatively affect China's own economy. "A relationship based on common strategic interests requires mutual respect," he said, referring to China. 

"It is that kind of relationship based on common strategic interests that I want to restore." Abe's stimulus package includes plans a request to raise military spending for the first time in a decade — an increase partly aimed at beefing up monitoring and defenses around the disputed islands. 

Chinese vessels have frequently ventured into areas near the islands. The top US diplomat for East Asia, Kurt Campbell, said Thursday the US will urge "care and caution" in the East China Sea dispute. Senior officials from the State Department, the Pentagon and the White House will travel to South Korea and Japan next week. Bumpy relations between the two US allies are a source of concern for the US as it makes a "pivot" toward the Asia-Pacific, shifting diplomatic and military attention from Iraq and Afghanistan. In June, a planned intelligence-sharing pact between Japan and South Korea was derailed. Then in August, a visit by South Korea's outgoing President Lee Myung-bak to small islands claimed by both nations led to angry exchanges between Tokyo and Seoul. Perceptions in Seoul that Abe wants to minimize or whitewash Japan's wartime past also threaten to undermine the relationship. 


Abe has suggested previously that Japan's landmark 1993 apology for the suffering of World War II sex slaves, many of them Korean women, needs revising. Campbell said the visit by US officials was to ensure both governments are committed to "rebuilding" their ties. Signaling Tokyo's determination to expand its trade and investment with other Asia-Pacific nations, Abe dispatched his foreign minister, Fumio Kishida, on visits to the Philippines, Singapore, Brunei and Australia this week. 

Abe himself will be making his first trip abroad next week to Southeast Asia, with plans to visit Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand to strengthen ties already growing as Japanese manufacturers boost investments and marketing in the region. "These three countries are engines for growth of the world economy," Yoshihide Suga, the chief government spokesman, told reporters Thursday. He deflected suggestions that Tokyo was seeking to counterbalance China. "I don't view respecting relations with the rest of Asia as a countermeasure against China," he said.

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Hamas and Fatah to implement unity pact

An Egyptian official said the leaders of the Palestinian Hamas and Fatah factions had agreed at talks in Cairo on Wednesday (January 09, 2013) to implement a long-delayed reconciliation pact, although it was unclear if the deal would extend beyond holding more talks. 

President Mahmoud Abbas of the secular Fatah movement based in the West Bank and Khaled Meshaal of the Islamist Hamas group that controls the Gaza Strip met face-to-face for the first time in over a year to discuss how to implement their 2011 deal.

The rivals fell out badly when Hamas seized control of Gaza from Fatah by force in 2007. But they have drawn closer since Israel's assault on Gaza in November, in which Hamas claimed victory, and a diplomatic win by Abbas the same month in which the United Nations voted to recognise Palestine as a "non-member state". 

"It was agreed that sides would begin immediately to implement the previously agreed mechanism of the agreement signed," a senior Egyptian official involved in the talks, who declined to be named, told Reuters by phone from Cairo.

Nabil Abu Rdaineh, a senior aide to Abbas, said the president had held a lengthy meeting with Meshaal in a "positive atmosphere". He said there was an agreement to hold more meetings, but declined to give details. 

No comment was immediately available from Hamas. The two sides have signally failed to put into practice the deal they signed in Cairo in May 2011 to reunify the leadership of the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories. 

The Egyptian official said discussions to find ways to do so had been held in a "positive spirit", and that the rival factions would meet again in the first week of February to work out a timetable. Egyptian mediators had hoped to coax Abbas and Meshaal into a meeting with Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi, but in the event they met without Mursi. Abbas is reluctant to accept any format that would imply giving the Hamas leader a status equivalent to his own.

120 blazes burning in Australia

More than 120 blazes are still burning in New South Wales of Australia, razing at least 300,000 hectares of land and killing thousands of livestock. 

Fire crews in south-east Australia are racing to bring hundreds of bushfires under control before temperatures rise and winds pick up again. 

Cooler weather has brought some reprieve but forecasters predict another hot spell at the weekend. The fires have destroyed buildings in New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania. 

On Wednesday (January 09, 2013), the heat wave moved up the east coast to Queensland, where a bushfire started on Bribie Island, north of the city of Brisbane. Temperatures will stay above 30C across the state and are expected to reach the high 40s in some parts on Thursday, forecasters say.

'Tornadoes of fire' The Rural Fire Service (RFS) in New South Wales said crews have worked around the clock to take advantage of cooler conditions brought on by a southerly wind. Across the Sydney area the mercury fell to below 30C on Wednesday, after passing 40C on Tuesday. 

A couple in Tasmania and their five grand-children, pictured here, sought shelter in the water under a jetty as flames closed in on the town of Dunalley "The cooler conditions have certainly assisted the fire fighters on the ground in being able to get in and get some containment lines established around these fires, and indeed back-burn around some of those containment lines," RFS Superintendent Matt Inwood told ABC News. 

"We definitely will make the most of those conditions while we have them, but we're very mindful of the warmer conditions expected over the coming week." Fifteen fires remain uncontained, with the worst blazes burning in the state's south near Yass, Sussex Inlet and Cooma. 

All national parks, state forests and reserves have been closed to the public. With scorching temperatures set to return at the weekend, even moderate breezes will prove "problematic and risky", RFS Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons warned. 

Bushfires also continue to cause concern in southern and northern Tasmania. A large blaze is still burning out of control by the Tasman peninsula, near areas already hit by major blazes over the weekend. 

More than 20,000 hectares of land and 120 homes have been destroyed. Photos of a Tasmanian family shown clinging to a jetty surrounded by "tornadoes of fire" have been widely shared by the international media. Tim Holmes told ABC News that he, his wife and their five grandchildren sought shelter in the water under a jetty when the bushfire closed in on the town of Dunalley, 57km (35 miles) east of the state's capital, Hobart. "We saw tornadoes of fire just coming across towards us and the next thing we knew everything was on fire, everywhere all around us," Holmes said. Teams have been searching through ravaged buildings and a number of people remain unaccounted for, but no deaths have been reported. 

Meanwhile fire fighters in south-west Victoria continue to battle a bushfire near Portland. The state government said it was considering offering emergency grants to people who have lost their homes.

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Bangladesh must refrain harassing editor M Rahman, Amnesty International

The Bangladeshi authorities must refrain from harassing and prosecuting newspaper editor Mahmudur Rahman, reports the UK-based human rights body Amnesty International on Tuesday (January 08, 2013).

Mahmudur Rahman has been threatened with prosecution for publishing a Skype conversation between the then chairman of the International Crimes Tribunal-1 and a Bangladeshi legal expert, the rights body added. After being warned that he could be arrested anytime he has not left his newspaper’s offices since December 13 last year, except for a brief trip to the court on January 8 to seek anticipatory bail. The court is yet to grant his bail. 

“Everyone, including Mahmudur Rahman, has the right to freedom of opinion and to seek, receive and impart information through any media,” said Abbas Faiz, Amnesty International’s Bangladesh researcher. 

“He has been previously detained and tortured for publishing articles in the public’s interest,” he added. “A full report on the Skype conversation had already been published by the UK magazine The Economist and also posted on the YouTube website.” There was no legal ban on the publication of that material in Bangladesh during the time that Amar Desh was publishing it from December 9 to 13 in 2012. 

The newspaper stopped publishing the reports on December 13 when a court injunction banned Bangladeshi newspapers from publishing those. It was after the court injunction that the government obtained a court order from a High Court bench, which required the police to take “necessary action” against Rahman on the basis of the allegation that he had committed sedition by publishing the Skype conversation. The government must ensure that everyone, in particular journalists and editors, are free to express their views and opinion peacefully without being harassed, intimidated, detained or tortured.

45 years lowest temperature in Bangladesh

Bangladesh has been experiencing its record lowest temperature since 1968 as mercury dipped to 3.2 degrees Celsius in Dinajpur on Wednesday (January 09, 2013). The mercury dipped to 2.8 degrees Celsius in Srimangal 45 years ago, said Arif Hossain, an assistant meteorologist of Bangladesh Meteorological Department. 

Dhaka's temperature was 7.2 degree Celsius on Wednesday while it was 9.6 degrees on the previous day. In a Met Office forecast for 24 hours that commenced from 9:00am Wednesday, severe cold wave is sweeping over the regions of Pabna, Dinajpur, Sayedpur, Tangail and Kushtia. 

Mild to moderate cold wave is sweeping over rest part of Rajshahi, Rangpur and Dhaka divisions and the regions of Jessore and Srimangal, the forecast said. 

The freezing weather may continue for three to four days, said meteorologist Md Rasheduzzaman. 

On January 17, 1996, Dinajpur Met office recorded 3.8 degree Celsius. The temperature however increased to 6.5 degree Celsius around 11:00am Wednesday, Met officials said. The sudden dip of mercury level troubled the public life especially children, elderly and poor people in Dinajpur and Joypurhat districts. 

Sunday, January 6, 2013

Tsunami warning for Alaska and British Columbia

A tsunami warning was issued for coastal areas of southeast Alaska and British Columbia after an earthquake of 7.5 magnitude struck in the Pacific Ocean on Saturday (January 05, 2013). 

The quake occurred about 60 miles (100 km) southwest of Port Alexander, southern Alaska, at a depth of about 6 miles (10 km) at 0858 GMT, according to the US Geological Survey, which downgraded the magnitude from an initial 7.7. 

The West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center in Palmer, Alaska, put out a tsunami warning for areas stretching from northern Vancouver Island in Canada to Cape Suckling, 75 miles southeast of the Prince William Sound town of Cordova, Alaska. 

Waves were expected to hit first in Langara, in Canada's British Columbia province, and later in the morning farther north and west, possibly reaching as far as Homer on Alaska's Kenai Peninsula, the center said.

The tsunami warning was likely to be in effect for at least four hours, earthquake center scientist Bill Knight said. So far there had been no reports of damage from the earthquake. Officials in Sitka, southern Alaska, were urging evacuations in low-lying areas, local radio station KCAW reported. An earthquake of magnitude 7.7 struck British Columbia on October 27. A tsunami warning was issued but no damage ensued.

Iran unresponsive to EU nuclear talks

The European Union has proposed a time and place for further talks on Iran's nuclear program, but Iran has yet to respond, an EU spokesman said on Friday (January 05, 2013). 

Iran said earlier on Friday it had agreed to resume talks in January with six major powers - represented by the EU - but the EU spokesman said Tehran had not yet replied to proposals made on December 31. 

"We offered dates and a venue, but we are still waiting to hear back from Iran," said Michael Mann, spokesman for EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton, who leads negotiations on behalf of the United States, Russia, France, Britain, Germany and China. Mann declined to say which dates and venue the EU had proposed. 

The countries involved in the talks - particularly in the West - want to rein in Iran's uranium enrichment work - which Tehran says is for peaceful purposes only but which produces material which, if processed further, can be used to make nuclear bombs. 

There was no breakthrough in three rounds of talks since April 2012. But neither side has been willing to break off totally, partly because of concerns this could lead to war if Israel attacks Iran - something it has threatened to do if the Islamic Republic looks close to getting nuclear weapons.

None cared Indian girl even looking at lying on road

Passers-by left a gang-raped Indian student lying unclothed and bleeding in the street for almost an hour, a male friend who was assaulted with her said on Friday (January 04, 2013) in his first public comments on the case that provoked a global outcry. 

The 23-year-old student died in hospital two weeks after she was attacked on December 16 in a private bus in New Delhi, prompting street protests over the Indian authorities' failure to stem rampant violence against women. 

The graphic account from the man in a television interview is likely to add fuel to public anger over the death in a country where official statistics show one rape is reported every 20 minutes. 

The woman's friend told the Zee News television network he was beaten unconscious with a metal bar by her attackers before the pair were thrown off the bus. They lay in the street for 45 minutes before a police van arrived and officers then spent a long time arguing about where to take them, the man said. 

"We kept shouting at the police, 'please give us some clothes' but they were busy deciding which police station our case should be registered at," the man said in Hindi. 

Delhi police spokesman Rajan Bhagat told Reuters GPS records show the first police van reached the scene four minutes after it was called and took the man and the woman to hospital within 24 minutes. Neither the woman nor her friend have been named. 

Five men were charged with her gang rape and murder on Thursday. A court is due to consider the charges on Saturday. 

The man's comments caused a renewed outpouring of anger on Twitter. "After reading and watching the Zee News interview i'm absolutely shocked and ashamed of being an Indian," said an Indian. The man called on the protests to continue, but said he wished people had come to his friend's help when she needed it. "You have to help people on the road when they need help." The male friend said he and the woman were attacked after an evening out watching a film. 

"From where we boarded the bus, they (the attackers) moved around for nearly two and a half hours. We were shouting, trying to make people hear us. But they switched off the lights of the bus," he said, according to a transcript of the interview. 

When they were thrown out, they pleaded with passers-by for help, he added in the studio interview, a blue metal crutch leaning on his chair. "There were a few people who had gathered round but nobody helped. Before the police came I screamed for help but the auto rickshaws, cars and others passing by did not stop," the man added.

Saturday, January 5, 2013

13 female HR workers detained by Bangladesh Police

Bangladesh Police detained 13 female human rights workers women who were in a seminar under the name of "Women' Right" from National Press Club in the capital city Dhaka of Bangladesh on Saturday (January 05, 2013). 

Shahbagh police picked them up around 3:30pm while they were coming out of the press club after taking part in a roundtable meeting on women's rights issue there. Three of the detainees were identified as Joshna Begum, 50, Fatema Begum, 48, and Sadia Jahan, 45.

Police said the women were picked up following information that they were the aides of those 21 women, who were arrested from Islami Chhatri Sangstha office at Moghbazar on December 17. During the roundtable meeting, the women protested the arrest of the 21 women and demanded their immediate release. The detainees were taken to Shahbagh Police Station for interrogation. 

 Syed Nurul Islam, deputy police commissioner (Ramna division), said the detainees are suspected to be members of the Islami Chhatri Sangstha and are the aides of the 21 women arrested earlier. "We are trying to know about their political background and their motives," he said.

Cameron dismisses Argentinian plea for Falkland

British Prime Minister David Cameron dismissed Thursday (January 3, 2013), a renewed call by Argentinian President Cristina Kirchner for Britain to return the disputed Falkland Islands. 

Cameron said the 3,000 residents of the South Atlantic archipelago had a strong desire to remain British and would have a chance to express their views in a referendum on March 10 and 11. 

In an open letter to the British PM, Kirchner said the islands were "forcibly stripped" from Argentina exactly 180 years ago, "in a blatant exercise of 19th-century colonialism".

Japan to end territorial dispute with S Korea

Japan's new Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on January 04, 2013 sent a special envoy to Seoul, the foreign ministry said, in an early attempt to mend fences over a territorial dispute.

Veteran lawmaker and former finance minister Fukushiro Nukaga left Haneda airport Friday bound for the South Korean capital bearing Abe's message to president-elect Park Geun-Hye. 

"As both Japan and South Korea have new governments, I would like to play the role of mediator so that this year can be a good one for the two countries," Nukaga told reporters at the airport.

Myanmar military and KIA fierce clashes

Myanmar yesterday said that air strikes targeting ethnic minority rebels in the northern state of Kachin were in self-defence, vowing "maximum restraint" in the face of growing international concern. 

Meanwhile, China, traditionally a key backer of the Myanmar regime, yesterday said it had made a diplomatic complaint to Myanmar after three bombs landed on its territory on Sunday evening but caused no casualties. 

Fighting between the military, known as the Tatmadaw, and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) in the far north of the country also known as Burma has worsened in recent days.

In a statement, Myanmar's reformist government accused the rebels of Kachin of blowing up railway tracks, roads and bridges, ambushing military columns and threatening local people. "Due to these circumstances, the Tatmadaw had to take military action as self defence and in order to protect the safety of lives and properties of the people, safe and smooth transportation and peace and tranquility of the region," the statement said. 

"Even though (the) Tatmadaw had to take this action, it has exercised with maximum restraint in using force," it added. Tens of thousands of people have been displaced in the state of Kachin since June 2011, when a 17-year ceasefire between the government and the KIA broke down, prompting months of fierce fighting with gun and artillery fire. 

The United States said Wednesday it was "deeply troubled" by the recent use of aid raids while UN chief Ban Ki-moon urged Myanmar "to desist from any action that could endanger the lives of civilians living in the area or further intensify the conflict in the region". The Kachin clashes, along with communal unrest in the western state of Rakhine, have overshadowed dramatic political changes since Myanmar's widely praised emergence from decades of army rule in early 2011.

54 percent Israelis support separate Palestinian state

A slender majority of Israelis support the creation of a separate Palestinian state, but did not have high hopes for a peace deal, a survey said yesterday.

The survey by daily Israel Hayom asked more than 800 Israelis "do you support or oppose the idea of two states for two peoples, i.e. the creation of a Palestinian state independent from Israel?"

Almost 54 percent said they favoured the idea, and 38 percent rejected it, with the rest refusing to answer. The survey's margin of error was 3.4 percentage points.

Malala leaves UK hospital


Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai waves to the camera yesterday
as she is discharged from the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham
in central England. Photo: AFP
The British hospital treating Malala Yousufzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl shot by the Taliban for campaigning for girls' education, said Friday that she has been temporarily discharged ahead of surgery. Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, central England, said the 15-year-old would stay at her family's temporary English home before undergoing major surgery on her skull in a few weeks. 

"Malala Yousufzai was discharged from Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham (QEHB) as an inpatient yesterday (3 January 2013) to continue her rehabilitation at her family's temporary home in the West Midlands," its statement said. 

Malala was shot on her school bus by a Taliban hitman in October 2012, in an attack that shocked the world. The bullet grazed her brain coming within centimetres of killing her, and she was airlifted to the specialist Queen Elizabeth Hospital days after the attack in Mingora in Pakistan's northwestern Swat Valley.

"She is still due to be re-admitted in late January or early February to undergo cranial reconstructive surgery as part of her long-term recovery and in the meantime she will visit the hospital regularly to attend clinical appointments," the hospital said. It added that Malala had been regularly leaving the hospital over the past couple of weeks to visit her family at home.

Thursday, January 3, 2013

400 new law in USA, ban on social sites password demanding

Employers in California and Illinois will be prohibited from demanding access to workers' password-protected social networking accounts and teachers in Oregon will be required to report suspected student bullies thanks to new laws taking effect in 2013. 

In California and Illinois, laws that take effect at 12:01 a.m. local time will make it illegal for bosses to request social networking passwords or non-public online account information from their employees or job applicants. 

In all, more than 400 measures were enacted at the state level during 2012 and will become law in the new year, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL). 

Some of the statutes, which deal with everything from consumer protection to gun control and healthcare, take effect at the stroke of midnight. Others will not kick in until later in the year. 

The raft of measures includes a new abortion restriction in New Hampshire, public-employee pension reform in California and Alabama, same-sex marriage in Maryland, and a requirement that private insurers in Alaska cover autism in kids and young adults, NCSL said. 

In New Hampshire, a rarely used form of late-term abortion will become illegal except to save the life of the mother - and even then only if two doctors from separate hospitals certify the procedure is medically necessary. John Lynch, the state's outgoing Democratic governor, had vetoed the measure, saying it would threaten the lives of women in rural areas. But the state's Republican-controlled legislature later overrode him. 

Michigan's Republican Governor Rick Snyder signed a similar measure into law earlier this month that took effect immediately. The Michigan law also penalizes educational institutions for dismissing or failing to admit a student who does not provide passwords and other account information used to access private internet and email accounts, including social networks like Facebook and Twitter. 

But workers and job seekers in all three states will still need to be careful what they post online: Employers may continue to use publicly available social networking information. So inappropriate pictures, tweets and other social media indiscretions can still come back to haunt them. 

Gun violence - in places where it's all too common, such as Chicago, and in places where it's unexpected, such as Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut - was big news in 2012. 

But only a handful of new state firearms laws are set to take effect in 2013. In Michigan, the definition of a "pistol" under the law will now include any firearm less than 26 inches in length. The new definition encompasses some rifles with folding stocks and will make the weapons subject to the same restrictions as pistols. In Illinois, certain guns currently regulated by state law, including paintball guns, will be excluded from the definition of a firearm and participants in military re-enactments will be exempt from some weapons laws.

Another big story in 2012 was the effort by lawmakers in a number of cash-strapped states to put their public employee pension funds on a sounder financial footing. 

In California and Alabama, reforms designed to begin to address the unfunded liabilities of those retirement systems will take effect in 2013. 

Among the other new laws on the books in 2013: * In California, prison workers and peace officers will now be prohibited from having sex with inmates and prisoners in transport. * In Illinois, sex offenders will be prohibited from distributing candy on Halloween, or playing Santa or the Easter Bunny. * In Oregon, employers won't be allowed to advertise a job vacancy if they won't consider applicants who are currently out of work. * In Kentucky, residents will be prohibited from releasing feral or wild hogs back into the wild and Illinois will ban the possession and sale of shark fins. * And in Florida, the term "motor vehicle" will no longer apply to the specialized all-terrain vehicles with over-sized tires known as "swamp buggies" that are popular in some parts of the state.

BNP Secretay Fakhrul on 17 days Police remand

Police on Thursday filed a petition seeking 17 days remand for BNP Acting Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir showing him as arrested in two more strike-related violence cases. Motijheel and Sutrapur Police filed the petitions seeking exhibit of arrest in the two cases at Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's court. The court accepted the charges of arrest after hearing.

Sub Inspector Azizul Haque sought 10 days remand on behalf of Motijheel Police Station while Sub Inspector Hekmat Ali sought 7 days to interrogate Fakhrul in custody on behalf of Sutrapur Police Station. 

The court will pronounce its verdict on the remand petitions on Jan 8 . On Wednesday the High Court granted Mirza Fakhrul six months bail in two other violence cases of Paltan and Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Police Station. Fakhrul had moved the High Court after the Sessions Judge's Court rejected his bail petition.

After HC granted him bail, Fakhrul's lawyer Barrister Moudud Ahmed had said that the bail cleared all confusion over his release. However Attorney General Mahbub-e-Alam has said the release would depend upon two conditions – one whether other cases were present against him and if the state would seek to move the Appellate Division.

A total of 38 cases were filed in the capital during the recent BNP-sponsored road blockade over vandalism and arson. Fakhrul was accused in almost all the cases.