The New Nation - Internet Edition

For success of Doha round

THE Doha round talks of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) began on Monday in Geneva with a view to making a breakthrough in the many times stalled trade negotiations. The Ministerial Conference of the WTO held in Doha in 2001 was marked by a core concern that the multilateral trading system should benefit the developing countries. The Doha declaration had pledged to enable these countries get a legitimate share of the world trade through two key routes: improving access to developed country markets through reduction of import tariffs that distort market competitiveness and withdrawing domestic and export subsidies.

But the developed nations, against the spirit of globalisation, have so far proved unwilling to open up their agricultural markets that the LDCs are in dire need of. The developed countries pressurise developing countries to withdraw subsidies and slash tariff barriers while they maintain the same against LDCs. The Doha round thus missed repeated deadlines to reach a consensus. Stubborn refusal to cut farm subsidies by the US and reluctance of Japan and European nations to lower tariff on farm products from developing countries still stand as stumbling blocks on the way to a successful conclusion. Though US claimed to be committed to the outcome of this round, Washington made it conditional to the role of major emerging economies like Brazil, China and India.

If the Doha round fails to come up with a positive outcome, the impact on the developing countries like Bangladesh will be perilous. The world cannot afford to risk years of further delay for a settlement. World Bank chief has observed that it had never been more important for WTO members to move forward on the Doha development agenda. All stakeholders must be sincere to make the round a success.

Dhaka turning uninhabitable

ENVIRONMENTALISTS and experts at a recent press conference expressed their grave concern at the fast filling of the capital city's water bodies saying Dhaka would not remain liveable after about 20 years if encroachment on the drains, canals and rivers goes on unabated. Held under the banner of 'Bangladesh Paribesh Andolan', a platform of environmentalists, it was demanded that a specialised organisation should be formed to improve the sewerage system by reclaiming and developing those lost water bodies in and around the mega city to keep it free from water logging.

The environmentalists underscored the need for shifting offices of major government and non-governmental organisations and industries to other parts of the country to ensure balanced economic development and thus reduce the growing pressure of people on the capital. Dhaka has already been on the brink of collapse due to unplanned urbanisation, particularly during the post-liberation period due to construction of buildings by filling up government land, canals, rivers and water bodies.

Unplanned construction and buildings violating rules by exerting undue influences have completely destroyed the capital city's natural drainage system resulting in water logging even after brief rainfall. The real estate companies are also in the race of encroaching on the rivers and canals in the capital city in connivance with corrupt section of the officials.

There were 43 canals in the capital city as identified by the Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (WASA) in 2005 and a committee was formed to reclaim some 13 canals. But there has been little progress in reclaiming of the encroached canals, rivers and water bodies. These were encroached by the land grabbers against whom no effective action could ever be taken. The city's situation would turn worse if drastic actions are not taken right now.

Revisiting the Moon

Maswood Alam Khan

Exactly 39 years back on July 21 in 1969 at 8:56 in the morning, Bangladesh (then East Pakistan) Time (02:56 UTC), Neil Alden Armstrong alighted on the moon's surface his footstep, first as a human being, and spoke his famous line "That's one small step for a man; one giant leap for mankind" six and a half hours after the Apollo 11 mission's lunar module had landed safely on a location called "The Sea of Tranquility" at 20:17:40 UTC July 20---fulfilling an American dream President John F. Kennedy wished to translate into reality during a 1961 speech. The moment was stamped indelibly on the page of history and the word 'Armstrong' turned out to be a household name for all generations to come.

I don't know how the Moon had felt the first soft touch of human footsteps on her surface or whether the planet Earth had forewarned her only satellite of bad days ahead if humans were allowed to walk and run free on the lunar surface! But I am sure, if the Earth could somehow whisper to the Moon, the planet's advice to her satellite would have been: "Beware of humans; they are savages!"

Our Earth, the third planet from the Sun and home to millions of species, was formed about four and a half billion years ago. Of millions of species only humans' steps on this Earth are the heaviest, the cruelest and the loudest. All living species, except humans, give more to the Earth than take from her during their lifespan. Humans only take and are not content with what Earth can afford; now they are poised for outsourcing in the havens far away in the space leaving the Earth, bereft of her treasures, in the lurch.

Humans, more appropriately Homo sapiens or bipedal primates from the evolutionary point of view, have been walking on this Earth for about 250 thousand years with their highly developed brain capable of abstract reasoning, language, introspection, and emotion compared to any other quadruped animals, flying birds, swimming fishes and visible or invisible living beings.

The Earth has since silently been tolerating humans' exploitation of her resources, though once in a while the Earth twitches and jerks her body when humans excessively flirt with the planet's cores. When thousands of dumb species are becoming extinct at rapid pace as victims of human oppression and subjugation, the ever-rising human population on Earth now stands at 6.7 billion.

Earth's only natural satellite, the Moon, began orbiting it about 4.53 billion years ago, that induces our ocean tides, stabilizes our planet's axial tilt and gradually slows our planet's rotational speed---all these phenomena vitally needed for our very existence.

The moon's magnificence agitated our scientists; they sent humans in spaceships to step onto her body and pry into what lay on and beneath her skin the way after being enamored of a rose in the garden we pluck it off from its plant, imprison it into a vase, forcibly inhale its fragrance and mutilate its petals to our whims and caprices.

Nevertheless, as a motif in the visual and performing arts, poetry, prose and music the shining Moon while waxing and waning or while playing hide and seek behind patches of hanging clouds evoked romance in a man to serenade his fiancée, stirred up Frank Sinatra to sing: "Fly me to the Moon" and inspired Kanak Chapa to hum: "Nishi Raat Baaka Chaad Akaashey, Chupi Chupi Baashi Baajey Baatasheyt." (A whispering tune of a flute comes floating in the wind when the nocturnal sky is beautifully studded with a crescent moont.).

Why are we humans doing what we are doing? Are our small steps opening up windows for mankind to leap forward in giant steps? Knowing full well mistakes or missteps committed by a king can leash the whole mankind to regress back to square one why do we remain silent when a powerful king or a prime minister commits mistakes after mistakes and transgresses all the bounds of justice? We take fatalistically a decision taken by our king as it comes. We are speechless when a powerful nation uses its veto to block 'a proposal to save the Earth'? Questions challenging the corrupt and the unjust are often drowned out by the noises of dollar diplomacy and brave questioners are always stonewalled by loud voices of the perpetrators!

We should always mind our steps. We should think and look twice---or thrice---before we leap. We must rehearse time and again before making an announcement. A letter of protest spiced with threats and stewed in anger should be kept as a draft. Waiting for a while or a good night's sleep may cool me off and in the morning when my mind is fresh I may feel an urge to rewrite the draft letter of protest deleting most of the angry words before snail-mailing the letter or clicking the 'send button' of my internet mail box.

Mankind suffered heavily from a lot of missteps by a few. Neil Armstrong has also been suffering from mental humiliation for a minor misstep, a grammatical mistake he committed in stage fright; he flubbed his historic 'one small step' remark as he became the first man to set foot on the surface of the moon.

What Neil Armstrong meant to say as he descended from the ladder of Apollo 11's Lunar Excursion Module and stepped onto the lunar surface was "That's one small step for (a) man; one giant leap for mankind." Unfortunately, however, Armstrong in the excitement of the moment omitted one small word ("a") and delivered the line as "That's one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind."

The missing article "a" made a world of difference in literal meaning. Instead of a statement linking the small action of one man with a monumental achievement for (and by) all of humanity, Armstrong uttered a somewhat contradictory phrase that equated a small step by the human race with a momentous achievement by humankind ("man" and "mankind" having the same approximate meaning in English).

Armstrong after his return to earth said he was misquoted and he insisted that he did not omit the article 'a' before 'man'. The debate is still on. Maybe, some of his supporters reason, the letter ('a') apparently went unheard and unrecorded in the transmission because of static or any other fallibility of the tape recorder!

But, NASA's own recording of Armstrong's transmission from the lunar surface reveals that his words are clearly audible over background static; that the word "man" follows immediately on the heels of "for", with no gap between them into which Armstrong could conceivably have inserted the word "a"; and that Armstrong pauses noticeably after the word "man", as he realizes he's fumbled his line and hesitates momentarily before completing the sentence.

Armstrong's flubbing a small letter and his bungling incompetence in English as an announcer exemplifies how a minor misstep can spark a major upheaval.

Fundamental knowledge, whether it concerns the origins of the Universe, metamorphoses of inanimate matter or the human psyche, determines our ability to evaluate our place in the world, grasp the past and prognosticate the future. The search for knowledge and truth distinguishes human beings from all other living creatures known to us. The desire for a deeper understanding of the great mysteries of life has defined not only human intellect but also some of the most remarkable human actions and achievements. But, knowledge gathered by humans has been used more for destruction of the Earth than for her preservation.

People the world over felt elated on hearing Armstrong's voice, traveling a long distance of about 350 thousand kilometers from the Moon to the Earth across the space that heralded his small footstep on the Moon presaging a giant leap forward for the mankind. 39 years have already passed since Armstrong made his epoch-making pronouncement in front of the world's largest audience ever; but, not much of a leap forward the world has witnessed.

The mankind has since undoubtedly progressed in harnessing the creativity of the scientists for application of technologies; but in inverse proportion to technological advancements the same humankind has lamentably regressed in terms of humanity. Mankind under the captaincy of the allied superpowers has been stone deaf to the cries echoing out of hunger pangs in Africa, to the groans of the war-injured in Iraq, to the eerie silence of the oppressed in Burma and North Korea, and to the rallying cries of the Greens. With giant leaps made forward and backward since the dawn of civilization small footsteps of great men on this earth are gradually becoming frail and feeble.

Building a good neighbourly relationship

Md. Masum Billah

New Delhi hosted a two days foreign secretary level meeting between India and Bangladesh, two strategically important neighbours, when Indian government was facing the confidence vote over the issue of nuclear deal with the United States originated from the withdrawal of support from the Manomohan government by the Left Front. We do believe both the representatives attended the meeting with every intention to find out the possible solutions to the problems existing between the two unequal neighbours. But the seemingly good intentionally held meeting was marred by one of the chronic issues i.e, border skirmish. Even then, we hope for the best.

Terrorism now stands as a global phenomenon occupying the position next to environment. The South Asian nations are severly affected by it along with other ills. So,

fighting terrorism topped the agenda in the meeting where Indian Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon and Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Touhid Hossain voiced in the same tone "Terrorism has to be tackled resolutely. We discussed how to meet together." India has blamed several recent bomb attacks on the Bangladesh based Islamic group Harkat-ul-Jehad -i-Islami. However, Bangladesh has denied any involvement by its citizens. It is obvious that the security of the two South Asian countries is intertwined. India shares 2500mile border with Bangladesh and Indian officials believe that some 20 million Bangladeshis are in India illegally. India and Bangladesh are looking forward to work together against terrorism and today's meeting has helped build our ' trust and understanding' between the two neighboring states. India must be convinced that Bangladesh never allows let alone encourage terrorism. The rise of terrorism during the last several years in the land of Bangladesh was hastened by some international issues, not by any internal factor. However, the government has dealt with it severely. The execution of the top leaders of the terrorist group amply proves the intention and attitude of the government towards terrorism. Moreover, living with peace and amity with its neighbors signifies the foreign policy of Bangladesh and she attaches utmost importance to further develop the diplomatic ties with India. Definitely, no reason will support the hosting of any terrorist group inside Bangladesh which works against Indian Territory. However, if such germs are discovered by India, Bangladesh will take stern action against it and work together with India to vanish it. This has been reiterated by the Bangladesh foreign secretary.

India is our biggest neigbhour and commercial partner, big friend but sometimes we are also afraid of her as we sleep with big elephant. The occasional border skirmishes, huge commercial gap, water sharing, wire fencing etc create doubts about our relations. But we never forget the staunch support and involvement of India to achieve our freedom though it brought big political gain to India as well. The response to India to our natural calamites and the exchange of cultural and historical ideas, the influx of Bangladeshi students to India and the recently introduced Moitree Express between these two important South Asian neighbors bear testimony to the sign of friendship. The further strengthening of this relation will further benefit these two neighbours. From this understanding emanated this secretary level meeting. "The discussions were very useful and led much greater understanding of each others position" claimed Menon. Bangladesh appealed to India on to share intelligence in order to reduce cross-border terrorism and said it won't allow its territories to be used for attacks on its western neighbours."We did not shy away from discussing all issues." Terrorism is a global problem and we have a mechanism for cooperation. We will continue that" Bangladesh foreign secretary Touhid said. Both the representatives told that they covered the issues related to security, infiltration, terrorism and cross-border crimes. In the midst of their talks and hopes the intrusion of Indian Border Security Forces (BSF) into Bangladesh territory and killing of two Bangladesh Rifles personnel at Chapinawabgonj just gives a bitter experience and an wound which we believe, need to be heeled permanently.

This Hydrabad House meeting also aimed at making Bangladesh agree to give India transit facility. But Bangladesh delegate did not concede to the point. As it is a big national issue, it must be decided by the elected government. Besides, it is related to several other issues. The Secretary General of BNP Khan Dakar Delwar commented regarding the transit issue in this way " After getting the transit facilities nobody can inspect what they are transporting nor can resist them. They are desperate to have transit facilities for military intervention. Though many people suggest for developing friendly relation with India, Bangladesh had never been treated as a friend by India in the past." Of course, we have mixed reaction in this regard. India has never seen friendly relation with us cannot be said unilaterally. Though some incidents and issues convince us the doubtful and crucial relations of India with us, we still hope greater positive response from her. Again some also place the argument in this way Why India didn't allow passage of trucks to and from Nepal through a small Indian corridor?

Why the people of Dahagram and Angorpota had to endure daily insult while coming to the mainland or return to their home through a corridor only a few hundred yards long? When India cannot show liberalism , how can she expect the same from her neighbours?First half of this year Bangladesh witnessed 32 of her unarmed citizens were killed in BSF firing, in the same period 22 other Bangladeshis were injured and another 22 were abducted. This cross border problem must be resolved through discussion. The regular flag meeting and genuine interest to resolve the issue must come from Indian side. If India considers her neighbours weaker and treat them according it goes beyond the real diplomatic norm and philosophy. As a big member of this region, India will have to take the initiative of all the un-resolving issues with her neighbours.

Some positive and hopeful aspects evinced from the meeting. Two diplomats agreed that a committee would be formed to settle water disputes between the two countries. Work on Bilateral Investment Protection Agreement (BIPA) was in an advanced stage of finalization and would be concluded in the near future.

Technical Committee on Embankment Protection of Rivers would meet shortly. The BIPA would provide national treatment for foreign investment, most faourved nation treatment for foreign investment and investors, free repatriation or transfer of returns on investments and recourse to domestic disputes resolution and international arbitration for disputes.

The bilateral investment promotion pact, which really took off after India lifted ban on the flow of investment form Bangladeshi citizens and corporate houses in November last year is expected to give a push to investment from both sides, official sources said. The ban on investment from Bangladesh had been imposed for security reason and although it was lifted nine months ago, investment proposals from Bangladesh would still need prior clearance of the foreign Investment Promotion Board even if they are meant for sectors which India has put on the automatic route. Several big Indian companies including the Tatas whose three billion dollar investment proposal for Bangladesh is hanging fire for more than four years and the Essar Steel have evinced keen interest in pulling their money in India's eastern neighbour .Bangladesh urged India to reduce the huge trade deficit of nearly two billion dollar by allowing greater access of Bangladesh products to the Indian markets. Toudhid emphasized the need for two way trade. He requested expediting the completion of export the remaining five lakh tones of rice to Bangladesh. He also requested his counterpart to consider completely withdrawing restrictions on the export of rice from India. Actually business deal depends on 'give and take' policy though it is determined by the necessity of time also. The mutual response will bring positive outcome for both sides.

Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Pinak Ranjan Charraborty while talking to the journalist termed the water sharing issue between these two countries as "an economic issue, not political at all." If it so, our biggest neigbour and business partner India must understand our pain that we suffer for want of water. Bangladesh foreign secretary said Indian Army Chief General Deepak Kapoor will soon visit Bangladesh. We hope his visit will give momentum to boost our diplomatic ties erasing all burning issues.