The New Nation - Internet Edition

THE Adviser for Commerce drew atention recently for his comments to the press on return from a trip to the Philippines. He observed that bringing back to Bangladesh the huge resources that corrupt people including politicians, bureaucrats, businessmen had amassed and then illegally transferred abroad is a very daunting task. In his view, it is so very difficult to accomplish that the people should have litle or less expectation of sizeable return of stolen resources. Needless to say, the people were happy to see action against the suspected corrupt ones. But the Adviser's hint is that the resources that they have stolen, would not now be returning to the country or would be returning only in insignificant amounts. But the ends of justice can be served fully not only from the internment of the suspected corrupt persons but also from the return of their transferred ill-goten wealth from abroad. The economic significance of it is also quite a lot Experts have estimated that the resources transferred from the country would be quite substantial. Insiders who have been investigating into these maters also say that the experts are very possibly not exaggerating but puting it objectively.

The United Nations (UN) and World Bank (WB) have jointly launched a programme to help the developing countries to recover their stolen resources. Governments of different countries have also directly assured Bangladesh cooperation in this mater. Thus, it is not well understood why the Finance Adviser is so pessimistic about the prospects of the return of the illegally transferred resources. Surely, our investigators have to first establish that funds have illegally flowed out of Bangladesh. For doing this investigation capacities will have to be much improved. But from achieving such improved investigation capabilities, it should be possible to establish to what countries and in what amounts resources of Bangladeshi origin have been transferred. Once this task is taken care of, cooperation of the countries geting such pilfered resources can be sought for their eventual return to Bangladesh. It may take some time. But if the government remains firm and engaged firmly in the investigation process, then good results can be expected. For example, billions of dollars of Philippine's former first lady Imelda Marcos, those of the former strongman of Indonesia, General Sueharto and that of the African dictator Abacha, could be recovered. So, there is every reason for Bangladesh to hope for similar results. The main requirement in the pursuit is determination and doing the hard investigation work.

The interim government ought not to disillusion the people. It had pledged to do everything to bring back the pilfered resources of the people and the state. The government may now do the necessary follow-up if it has accurate information about pilferred resources to fulfil its pledge. The recovered resources can be of great use to the country for undertaking developmental activities for people's welfare.

THE law enforcing agencies including the Rapid Action Batalion the other day had a meeting with the owners of transport vehicles. Representatives of the bus owners association from different locations came to the Mohakhali Inter-District Bus Terminal in the city for the meeting. They mentioned about the presence of terrorists, who forced the owners as well as drivers and helpers of buses and motor launches to pay them extortion money. These elements in the past decade used to get the support of political elements in the respective areas

As reported in the press, from time to time, owners and operators of buses and motor launches at different terminals fail to ensure proper management of their transport vehicles and vessels. The agile elements around those terminals become active to collect money at the cost of passengers. The passengers of such buses and motor launches are forced to pay fare at higher rates. Movement of passengers from the capital city and the major industrial and commercial towns has thus turned costlier. They have to pay fare at enhanced rates for their visits to their village homes during festivals like the Eids.

The people paying higher rates of fare try to avoid remaining in the long queues to buy tickets and opt for taking tickets from middlemen. These middlemen are found buying dozens of tickets at fixed rates from the terminals and selling the same at higher prices. In the meeting held at the Mohakhali Bus Terminal, the owners of buses and launches were requested by the officials of the RAB to ensure availability of tickets for long distance bus and launch passengers. They were requested to maintain daily schedule of movement of vehicles and ensure safe trips of passengers. They were also requested to instruct their drivers to avoid stopping at different points on long-routes and not to take local passengers on board their transports.

As reported, the RAB has taken the responsibility of nabbing criminals and extortionists and checking the process of black marketing of tickets. Safe and comfortable movement of passengers ahead of the Eid festival has to be ensured with necessary actions taken by the owners of transport vehicles. The prevailing inadequacies of space at bus terminals for accommodating hundreds of vehicles may have to be removed with joint investment by owners of vehicles for expanding existing terminals and seting up new ones around the city.

Shah M. Amjad Ali

Reasonably Bangladesh Post Office has to face the challenge of speed of scientific technology of the 21st century. According to the demand of the era the world is built up with a tremendous development in technological and socioeconomic sphere where development has exclusively been grown up with a trend of faster motive in comparison with other in speed. So it can unanimously be said that the 21 st century is the age of speed. Here people desires not only speed but also security in every aspect of their daily events. So the value of speed and security is very important to every individual, since the technology has enhanced speed of human life, as such people has reasonably been drifted to scientific technology with a motive to be faster than other. The most important invention of the twenty-first century is Information Technology that makes the globe very small to an individual. The modem science has made it so developed as that can transmit the latest news' from one end to other end of the globe within a moment Information technology felicitates the people with so many facilities that make people dynamic; they desire speed in every aspect of their daily events. We can see everywhere the people of every stage whether or not rich has an electronic device for personal communication like mobile phones and some of them always use electronic Internet media. This is obviously super normal behaviour for the 21st Century. But it is no scope to deny that the technology is making people machines, man is losing human nature. Nowadays it is grievously observed that man is severely drifted to artificial trend where sense of love, sense of feelings, sense of manner is completely absent Today almost we have forgoten the name of post card and envelope. The present generation is totally unknown about those communicative media, they have read it in their text only. The technology is whatever developed; it is no exaggeration to say that the post office is the symbol of civilization.

The children of the present generation do not know what is leter. They do not know that once up on a time people around the globe enjoyed to write and to receive leters and also they do not know that the leters were that time only the communicative media and people had immaculately to depend upon leters. They only know the leter as a bookish object and this is something episodic to them. They do not know what is love leter, what is sad leter, what is leter of respects and compliments. Whether or not they think of it, they always enjoy their life through electronic communicative media. They have no time to spoil the time in writing leters as they can easily contact their friends in a moment The electronic information media with the spirit of the day drives the postal information communicative media out of market The reason lies with speed, people wants speed in their every event and always tries to avoid sloth communication. The management of postal department has understood the trend and taken accurate measures to reshuffle the postal all arrangement in order to enhance the speed in every sector and introduced so many new products to render standard service. Among those products the crucial one is EMS. The management thinks that EMS is satisfying the customers with its prompt and speedy service. Meanwhile EMS is almost able to fulfill the demand of the customers.

Notwithstanding technological development it could not make any alternative route other than post office to sent at least two items in original form like documents and merchandises or goods. To convey these two items EMS is keeping important role all over the world. Almost in every case EMS can carry and reach the goods to the destination in the target time if the route of transmission uninterruptedly smooth. The service in some aspects has got commendable appreciation.

Now the globe is revolving on machines and machine like manpower where time is money and security is wealth and service commitment must go with an assurance of speed and security. People nowadays does not look for cheaper facilities, they seek speed and then security, as they want to reach their articles in tact to correct destination within the shortest time. With the view to meet the public motive for ensuring speed and security in mail sector UPU introduces Express Mail Service in 1983 and all the member countries simultaneously start functioning of the product As a result a speediest global postal network is created and almost success to meet demand of the customer.

Bangladesh Post Office has gone under agreement with 45 countries for operation of E.M.S. This postal new product is immaculately able to earn public popularity within short time. But the post could no longer hold that popularity due to some unavoidable reasons. The reasons can be easily chalked out but cannot be easily removed, as there lies financial involvement for making appropriate route with modern equipment To make appropriate route there needs IT equipment, Transport, and communicative network. The full-fledged network adorned with modern equipment only can keep the speed of mails in harmony with partner countries and can make the project of EMS successful. Otherwise speed of mails will be somewhere sloth and somewhere fast, i.e. there cannot maintain the speed of mails harmoniously fast as per expected time and mails will not reach the destination in a target time. We know, the underdeveloped countries among the network can never Jnaintain the target speed with the developed countries. Besides hilly, offshore island areas sometimes intervene the speed of mails. In these areas if helicopter is used the problem is easily solved. The UPU, the guardian of the global post, therefore, it can take necessary measures to eradicate the defects disturbing in the network. To keep EMS ever popular to the people both the countries sender and recipient must be sincere with time, speed and security of the article. The agreement between sender and recipient countries to charge dues on imbalance of articles at the rate fixed on mutual negotiation in 1999 and since then the rate is running on.

Bangladesh Post Office was running this sector on profit since its introduction in 1983 to 2002. If we go over the collection register we can see country and year wise collection of imbalance charge in SDR is in favor of Bangladesh. Even though this profit was not remarkable but recoupable for actual cost incurred on transmission and delivery of incoming foreign articles. On the other hand the collection of postage charges on outgoing EMS articles are losing concerned, as the charges are not adjustable with the cost incurred i.e. we collect charges less than the cost incurred on transmission of the article. However, the post office could not hold that profiting trend due to mismanagement and then due to shortage of modem technological arrangement Efficient and honest manpower can administer such a management with appropriate arrangement It is very often found that delivery of EMS article is disrupted due to pilferage and tempering along with unnecessary delay that which dissatisfy and disappoint the customers and also undermine the traditional reputation of post office as well. Dishonest peoples only create this embarrassing situation and that causes failure to ensure speed and security of EMS articles. As a result post office has lost the confidence of customers particularly in the field of EMS for which the traffic of EMS mail is declined nonetheless offering the cheapest charge. Taking chance of weakness of public post office the private enterprises have appeared to do business and are successful to atract the customers with their service. Notwithstanding high charges the customers are gathered to their counter to get service, on the other hand despite cheapest charges they do not go to public post office. Hence it is clear that customers want service Le. speed and security of their articles, they do not bother for charges whether cheap or expensive. Bangladesh Post Office has nowadays not avail either service or profit Le. a losing concern and is running as a burden of government as the government has to foster it with subsidy. Consequently the government has to account a big amount of money about 1.5. crore taka as subsidy every year for which the government has economically tired to bear the burden of loss. So reasonably we have choose appropriate way to recoup the loss so that it has no more borne the burden.

The postal management is successful to that extend to what it is able to satisfy the customers with standard service. The efficient management knows that it is reasonable to enhance the rate of charges to render a standard service.

The private postal sectors are already doing the same. The mail traffic in their business despite the high rate of charges is not declining in the scale of trade but always doing maximum business. So the reasonable high rate of

charges is no factor but the crucial factor is to ensure the highest speed and security of mail. The private and public postal sectors are doing their respective businesses in the same environment where the former is contesting to face the challenge of free-market trade and the later is lagging behind the tradition in a turtle speed likely through out the globe. If this trend is to continue further, thence it is no exorbitant to say that those days are not far when none will come to the public post even for service in free of cost

Bangladesh post office collects revenues in the shape of postage by which it cannot even recoup the actual cost, incurred to process mail. Hance it is clear that the rate fixed for collection of postal charges is not reasonable to carry on the service. The postage rate on domestic mail may be fixed up to an endurable level analyzing the cost incurred on transport, stationery, manpower, conveyance etc.

The postage rate of international mail can be fixed up at the cost comprising air surcharge, land charge of the recipient country, terminal dues and actual cost incurred in processing the mail. The post must bear the burden of loss if policy of collection of charges and monitor of mail circulation are not appropriate. The scenario of EMS mail exchange that we can see bellow in the chart is not hopeful. But it is caution to be alert to rectify and to reconstruct the defects so that the product is run on with profit

David Krieger

August 6 and 9, 2007 marked respectively the 62nd anniversaries of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

On August 6, 1945, Hiroshima was destroyed by a single atomic weapon with a core of enriched uranium. The blast, heat, fire and radiation killed 90,000 people almost immediately and 145,000 by the end of 1945.

On August 9, 1945, Nagasaki was destroyed by a second atomic weapon, this one with a core of plutonium 239. Because cloud cover kept the bombardier from finding his target in the center of the city, those killed immediately numbered some 40,000 and those dying by the end of 1945 numbered some 70,000.

These bombs awakened humanity to the Nuclear Age, an age in which our human ingenuity places us face-to-face with our own demise. From the onset of the Nuclear Age we have been challenged to do something never before accomplished in human history: to ban and totally eliminate an advanced form of weaponry.

Kaz Sueishi, who was 19 years old at the time of the Hiroshima atomic bombing and survived, said: "One second before it was heaven. One second after it was hell." While she may have overstated the situation before the bombing, she was undoubtedly correct that the situation after the bombing was a hell composed of death, devastation and suffering throughout the city. It is at the precipice of repeating this unmitigated horror on an even larger scale that civilization and the human future continue to teeter precariously.

During the Cold War, the US and USSR engaged in a form of nuclear rivalry known as Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD).While the Cold War was ended by the early 1990s, nuclear weapons continue to threaten our common future.There are still 27,000 nuclear weapons in the world. Twelve thousand of these are deployed, and 3,500 are on hair-trigger alert, ready to be fired in moments.

We live today not only with Mutually Assured Destruction, but also Mutually Assured Delusions (also MAD) - delusions that we can possess these weapons indefinitely and not have them be used by accident or design or fall into the hands of extremist groups. A key element of this delusional behavior is found in the belief that we can develop missile defenses that will protect against nuclear weapons. Another aspect of the delusional behavior is the belief that we can allow nuclear power plants to be spread throughout the world without triggering nuclear proliferation.

In addition to the constant threat to destroy cities, countries and civilization, three aspects of nuclear weapons that I most deplore are: first, they kill indiscriminately - men, women and children, the aged and the newly born, civilians and combatants - and are thus illegal under international law; second, because they are long-distance killing machines that target innocent people, they make cowards of their possessors; and third, they undermine democracy by placing such enormous power to destroy in the hands of a single individual or small cabal. There are currently nine nuclear weapons states: the US, Russia, UK, France, China, Israel, India, Pakistan and North Korea. More than 95 percent of the weapons are in the arsenals of the US and Russia, countries that continue to integrate these weapons into their military strategies. The US unfortunately promotes nuclear double standards - one set of rules for friends and allies such as Israel and India, and another set of rules for potential enemies such as North Korea and Iran. Such double standards cannot hold, and it is delusional to think that they can.

Sixty-two years after the onset of the Nuclear Age humanity still lives with the constant threat of nuclear annihilation. The main targets of nuclear weapons are major cities. Why do we tolerate this? Why do we elect and reelect leaders that live in a world of Mutually Assured Delusions?

We can do beter than this.To start with, all nuclear weapons states are required by the Non-Proliferation Treaty to engage in good faith negotiations for nuclear disarmamentThe International Court of Justice has defined this obligation as "to pursue negotiations in good faith and bring to a conclusion negotiations leading to nuclear disarmament in all its aspects under strict and effective international control."

For the United States to show its leadership in this area that is so critical to the security of its people, it should urgently convene the "good faith" negotiations for nuclear disarmament required by the Non-Proliferation Treaty. In addition, the US should withdraw its nuclear weapons from European soil; give legally binding assurances of no first use of nuclear weapons; ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty; negotiate with Russia to take all nuclear weapons off hair-trigger alert; and commence multilateral negotiations for a verifiable Fissile Material Cut-Off Treaty.

The anniversaries of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are reminders of the continued peril that humanity faces. This peril is far too serious to be left only in the hands of government leaders. Citizens must demand more of their governments - their very lives and those of their children could depend upon ending the delusions that nuclear weapons protect us and that nuclear double standards will hold indefinitely.