The New Nation - Internet Edition

Planning for the steel sector

Owners of steel and re-rolling mills have urged the government to adopt some immediate measures to help bring down the prices of mild steel (MS) rods. MS rod is selling in the current week between Tk 61,000 and Tk 72,000 per ton, 64 percent more costly than that of last year. High price of this important building material has seriously hampered construction works at public and private levels. It resulted in sharp decrease in the demand of rods and decrease of steel production. This, in its turn, has left an adverse impact on a host of backward linkage industries and sufferings to thousands of workers.

The government had recently formed a committee to find out the cause behind the price hike. The committee identified monopoly control of the market allegedly by a syndicate as responsible for the market volatility. The committee recommended reduction of duty on import of rods to make the business competitive. The millers demanded implementation of the probe body report, which recommended duty cut and opening up the import of raw materials for the steel industries. They said that melting scraps and billets should enjoy a fixed minimum duty. It is now as high as 10 per cent of import values. They also demanded withdrawal of all taxes on import of necessary chemicals and, at the same time, reduction of tariff and VAT in the production, handling and transportation of steel products. Along with those measures, they asked for granting tax holiday to new industries. They believe the prices of steel materials including MS rod will come down to reasonable levels if the demands are fulfilled.

The recovery of the steel sector demands a focused attention. The government must take up an integrated plan with long-term and short-term objectives aiming at the overall development of the steel industry on which development of a number of key sectors like construction, housing, transportation and engineering work depends.

US women more worried

The US economic downturn has spread personal 'financial worries’ far and wide, but women are more worried about paying bills, losing jobs, providing for children and saving for retirement, says a study as reported by Reuters from New York. The economy of the United States has been mired in a half-year-long period of stagnation accompanied by a shrinking job market, rising energy prices and a downward spiral in consumer confidence. 'Women, particularly among minorities, had more financial worries than men’, said the report based on a survey commissioned by the Rockefeller Foundation and an analysis by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research.

As reported three of every ten women were worried about their economic security, compared with two of every ten men, two-thirds of women fear they are not saving enough for retirement while half of men share this concern. Job, marital status or education provides no protection from higher rates of economic anxiety and insecurity, with women much more likely than men to feel economically insecure. Perhaps this insecurity is even more pronounced among women of colour, and single mothers face double jeopardy - lower earnings because they are female and more financial stress from parenting.

Mothers were 50 per cent more likely than fathers to have to pass up buying something their child needed because they could not afford it and were also at greater risk of losing jobs than fathers. The women, according to the study, were very worried about possible cutbacks to old-age social security benefits. Even among the most well-off, women are nearly twice as concerned about threats to their social security benefits as men. 'Women earn less during their working lives and, because of their care-giving roles, are much more likely to spend time out of the labour force, which ultimately diminishes their retirement income.

Cheats are at large

Abdur Rahim

The boss of the real estate agency who was supposed to meet me at 10 AM on 5 May last at my Gulshan residence did not show up at the appointed time fixed by him the previous night. When I called him after an hour he said he had forgotten about the appointment but assured me that he would be coming to see me regarding "sale" of my house. He ultimately, turned up around noon and was accompanied by another person said to be one of the directors of the Ma Baba Builders Ltd. located at Purana Paltan.

To my utter surprise, Abdullah al-Mamun (Sher-e-Gul), M.D. of the real estate agency, said he was interested in buying my house and added he had all the relevant documents supplied to him by a mart. He further said, a representative of the proposed sellers was waiting at his office to finalise the deal. After knowing my identity as a journalist Sher-e-Gul was visibly shaken and wondered why I did not put my nameplate mentioning my identity at the gate in order to scare the cheats.

As a matter of fact, I could come to know from a source at the RAJUK in 2006 that someone using my name and address had issued a power of attorney in the name of one Shajahan Mollah authorising him to take any decision about my house. I then had made a General Diary with the Gulshan Police Station.

I was away in London for nearly four years in late 80s in a diplomatic job. Back to Dhaka I went to RAJUK in connection with my house and was informed by Mr Mujibur Rahman, the then Deputy Director of Estate Department that one Mustafa had claimed to have obtained a power of attorney from a fake man using my name and address. The D.D. told me that he had dismissed the false claim and recommended severe action against the frauds.

It is suspected that the cheats in connivance with RAJUK'S dishonest officers and employees manage to get copies of documents of allottes of RAJUK (previously DIT) plots. In some cases they were successful in usurping plots and houses of absentee allottees.

As I was aware of such a fraudulent move. I managed to keep the proposed buyers engaged in discussion offering them snacks and by that time informed the Gulshar Police and a Brigadier-General of the Army about the incident. The police was quick and active and arrived at my house. Meanwhile, the Sher-e-Gul received repeated calls from the sale representative waiting at his Paltan Office. The restless caller asked the M.D. to go to his office and finalise the financial transaction without further delay.

As per advice of S I Khabir, the police officer investigating the case, Sher-e-Gul told the waiting gentleman (Shahjahan Siraj) that he was on his way to the office. With the M.D. and his director the police went to Ma-Baba Builders office.

By that time a Major with some sepoys had arrived. Seeing the Army and Police Shajahan Siraj was bewildered. He said that he was working on behalf of Shahjahan Mollah, the holder of the power of attorney.

A former cook of a retired Major General Shahjahan Siraj is already on bail in a number of cases of money extraction and land-grabbing. As per direction of Major Hafiz, Shajahan Siraj asked the main accused in the case Shahjahan Mollah to come to receive the money. It did not take much time for Shajahan Mollah to arrive and be arrested.

Shahjahan Mollah who has a past criminal record as a teacher at the City's West End School has been sacked from his job after his arrest in the fraud case.

(Abdur Rahim is the former Executive Editor, The Bangladesh Observer.)

Israel's quest for supremacy costing ME peace

Aijaz Zaka Syed

Contrary to what some of my friends suspect, I hate to go on and on about the Middle East and the games big powers play in this part of the world. But often one is not left with much choice.

Just look at the mess they have unleashed on Lebanon. A country that was beginning to recover from the decades of civil war and overwhelming destruction having built itself from a scratch once again finds itself in a situation that is not much different from the civil war of 1970s and '80s, all thanks to our friends in the West.

At least then the people of Lebanon knew their enemy. Then it was the people of Lebanon versus the external players like Israel. Today's Lebanon is divided from within-in a myriad camps and identities. Yesterday it was a united country that faced external threats. Today, it's an open-for-all war with everyone fighting everyone else. Lebanon is no stranger to conflict. But it has perhaps never faced so many divisions and internal strife of such overwhelming nature in its eventful history.

Who is responsible for this mess? Who has turned the Mediterranean paradise into a veritable hell? No prizes for guessing. Because, as Bob Dylan sang, the answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind.

Pundits are working themselves into a lather over how Hezbollah with its battle-hardened army of fighters has become a state within a state. And Western experts warn the ignorant amongst us how Shia Iran and Syria are arming the Shia militia to take on the Sunni Arab ruling coalition of Lebanon and how the Shia spectre has become a grave threat to Sunni Arab states from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean.

Washington has accused Hezbollah, Syria and Iran of fuelling the unrest in Lebanon. And Condi Rice has paid rich tributes to the Arab leaders for their 'unity' on the issue of Lebanon.

Unity against what Ms Rice? Who are the Arabs supposed to be fighting? Who is their enemy? Hezbollah? Syria? Iran? If one's memory serves one right, none of these players has invaded or currently occupies any territory or land that doesn't belong to them.

In fact, this whole circus in Lebanon is not about Hezbollah or its much-hyped weapons. This is not even about its communication and media network or growing military and political clout. This is not a Sunni-Shia conflict either, as many farsighted editorial pundits and friends in the West are bending over backwards to paint it. In deed, this is not even about Lebanon.

This is about Israel and its quest for total supremacy in the Middle East. The Jewish state, backed by its powerful friends in high places, wouldn't rest until all potential and imagined threats in the region are eliminated or neutralized. Yesterday it was Saddam's Iraq. Today, Iran and Syria are in its sights. Tomorrow it could be Saudi Arabia.

Since the humiliating defeat of the powerful Israeli army with its fearsome armoury of high-tech weapons at the hands of a ragtag militia called Hezbollah two years ago, the Israelis have been dying to teach a lesson to Nasrallah and his mentors.

The Hezbollah fighters managed to accomplish what the combined forces of big Arab states have so far failed to: beat Israel at its own game.

And before that in May 2000, it was the years of resistance by Hezbollah that eventually drove a red-faced Israel out of Lebanon after 22 years of occupation. Forcing Israel, that tiny state with a population of seven million people, out is something no Arab and Muslim country has managed so far. And let's not forget, in addition to the Palestinian land that it stole, Israel continues to occupy Arab territory - from Egypt to Jordan to Syria.

No wonder Hezbollah has earned itself the admiration and support of the Arabs, Muslims and others around the world. After all, it has done what many others couldn't: stand up to the neighbourhood bully.

This was the most embarrassing setback for Israel in its short history of using brute force against a helpless, homeless people. This is why the Israelis attacked Lebanon once again in 2006, essentially to avenge that historic humiliation at the hands of Hezbollah.

And once again, Israel was beaten back and was forced to call off the disastrous campaign after suffering unprecedented losses and total debacle. The Israelis still haven't-and perhaps never will-forgiven Olmert and his generals for that disaster.

No wonder the Israelis are so desperate to settle scores with Hezbollah and its backers, Syria and Iran. And no wonder the US, France and others are pushing for the disarming of Hezbollah. You don't need divine powers to see who stands to benefit from the isolation and neutralisation of the movement.

So the Israelis and the neocons have joined hands once again to play the tried and tested, imperial game of 'divide-and-rule' all over again. And Lebanon is the new theatre for this proxy war. This rather cleverly pits the Sunnis against Shias and the Arabs against Iranians across the Middle East and elsewhere even as it neutralises all potential threats to the state of Israel.

The process of dividing the Muslim world along sectarian lines began with Iraq. And Lebanon takes it to a new, more advanced level.

I am not a Shia and do not exactly subscribe to Hezbollah's worldview. But my sympathies and the support of everyone who believes in freedom and justice are with those who stand up to Israel and hold it to account for what it has been doing to the Palestinians and Arabs all these years.

Okay, Hezbollah may not exactly be a party of God. Maybe all this power has gone to its head and it is flexing muscles according to the dictates of its friends in Teheran and Damascus. And Syria and Iran could indeed be playing the great game in Lebanon by proxy.

But can you blame them for doing so, given the long history of interventions by Israel, the US and other Western players in the Mediterranean country? Who started this dangerous game in the first place?

Let's face it. This is not a tussle between Hezbollah and the government of Fouad Siniora. This is a proxy war between Israel and the US on one side and Iran and Syria on the other. This is not a Sunni-Shia or Arab-Iran conflict. For today more Arabs and Sunnis support Hezbollah than the Shias.

The issue at the heart of this conflict is not Hezbollah or its military clout but the Israeli occupation and subjugation of Palestinian people with the connivance of the West.

The Arab leaders as well as Iran and Syria must not lose sight of this fundamental reality. More importantly, they must stop playing into the hands of the big powers. The disunity in their ranks is responsible for the current woes of the Arab and Muslim world. They must not allow themselves to be divided and used yet again. Else mutual destruction will be the fate of the Muslim world.

(Aijaz Zaka Syed is a Dubai-based journalist and commentator.)

Judges need to be better paid

Md. Ibrahim Mia and

Md. Sekander Zulker Nayeen

As per Constitutional commitment the Judiciary of Bangladesh was made independent from the Executive in an historic moment of November 1st of the last year. The present non-party Caretaker Government coming as to bring a radical change in the three organs of the Government really have done some holistic works making the Judiciary independent charismatically after a long cry and struggle, which was always ignored by the all political and military governments. Establishing social justice independent Judiciary is a must. But surprising is that most of us in a dark about the true independence of Judiciary. Even many intellectuals and Authority presumes independence of Judiciary means mere institutional independence of the judges i.e. judges should be out of control of the Executive and more surprisingly they think the Executive can influence the judges only by the way of appointment. But reality is that the Judiciary would never be independent in true sense and terms only if the judges are appointed by a body which is comprised of non -executive members. There are many other conditions except than appointing judges by a body of non-executive or inferiority number of non-executive members.

It is recognized through all over the world true independence of Judiciary depends upon the fulfillment of three conditions- (a) mode of appointment; (b) security of tenure and thirdly and probably most important one is (c) adequate remuneration and privileges. After recent independence of our Judiciary its outlook has received an apparent independent shape regarding appointment and security of tenure. So we are not interested here to say anything on those matters. But for the betterment of the nation and for the benefit of our long cherished independent Judiciary to get it as truly independent we are to utter here what we feel and what we believe as to matters of adequate remuneration and privileges so that the concerned Authority may take it in their cognizance in right time.

After the journey of its independent way the Judicial Service Commission has completed its recruitment of 390 Assistant Judge and Judicial Magistrate. Critics has nothing to object except but examining the candidates traditionally. Rather the Judicial Service Commission has shown its smartness setting up an example to the PSC how to take public exams in a haste and most possible fair way. This is appreciated by media. If everything were so it was okay.

But those media also has given us sad news that among those 390 judicial officers about 50 (read more geniuses 50 who are in top of merit) are not joining to the Judiciary. The cause of their reluctance is low salary scale. As most of them are working in various private universities in a grand salary of Tk-30,000-40,000 per month how can they sacrifice their present job for a job of Tk-6800 scale? If they do not join really the Judiciary no doubt will loose merit. Who will join will hug lot of sufferings in the present context of price of essentials.

What would be the last? It should be realized by every sensible person. Lastly the Judicial officers will leave the job or… we think the readers know not less well than me (bribe!). Then the personal independence (not to touch bribe, to be influenced) which is the root and fruit of independent Judiciary will be uprooted, all the great purposes will be hindered, a sweet dream will be broken with sorrow. Transparency International in its Global Corruption Report '07 suggested four ways to eradicate judicial corruption.

Recruitment of judges on basis of merit is one of those. But who will not be seized with panic if he came to know that the report also revealed the meritorious/ genius are not ardent to join at judicial service only for the low salary scale.

It should be remained by the Authority that the works of the judicial officers are angelic but they are not angel. Unlike angels they have to eat and drink. There is a saying "a hungry man is an angry man". Can a hungry man make justice properly? If so the number should be very little. The readers will justify whether we are correct or not.

It is a matter of hope that the Pay Commission has suggest to the Ministry of Finance100%Judicial Allowance to the judicial officers.

The young judges are in dilemma whether to join the Judiciary or not, least they should be sufferer or gainer. Some are optimistic and some are pessimistic. The pessimistic are terming the said Judicial Allowance as the "Hanging Radish of Mulla Nasiruddin". We know that famous story of Mulla Nasiruddin. The Ass was not moving. So Nasiruddin managed a trick. He rode on the back of the Ass and hung a Radish before the mouth of that Ass but not in a position to reach. Then it tried to eat that Radish and advancing. In 21st Century has the Finance Ministry any opportunity to be Nasiruddin? Are the guys may be used as an Ass?

For a fresh and good start of the newly rectified judiciary we have nothing to look back. Considering present market price of the essentials and dignity of the judicial profession there is no way to the Ministry of Finance ignoring the proposal of the Pay Commission.

One thing may confuse the Authority not to execute the proposal of the Pay Commission that is opposing from the other services. In this context we would like to remember here the opponents that the nature of the service of the judicial officers and other officers of the service of the Republic are not the same in any way. we are not opposing others but we would be pleased if the salaries of all government servants are doubled. One thing we must insist the judicial officers should be paid their salary from a consolidated fund not by the Finance Ministry. Independence is disgraced if present practice continues.

For smooth functioning of the Judiciary the other privileges of the judges should be ensured. House, transport, supporting stuff and modern technologies should be made available. Promotion of the judges should be regularized. Senior judges should be appointed in various Board, Departments and Foreign Missions proportionately other services of the Republic. Present practice of appointing the Justices of the Supreme Court on the basis of political affiliation should be cancelled and minimum 80% of the justices should be promoted from the lower judiciary. May we hope that our labour to this writing be useful in the process of full-fledged independent judiciary of Bangladesh? Wishing social justice and rule of law for Bangladesh.