The New Nation - Internet Edition

Buyers prefer local sweaters

BANGLADESHI suppliers of winter clothes like manually produced sweaters and pullovers are attracting more and more importers from Europe, according to media reports. The sweater industry that had sluggish business in the two previous years 2006 and 2007, now experiences very good business in the peak delivery season this fiscal year and the increased shipment of winter-wears like sweaters and pullovers contributed a lot to the robust increase in the country's annual knitwear export. Export proceeds from the handmade sweaters and pullovers is expected to be around 1.4 billion dollars in the fiscal year 2008.

Many of the European sweater importers diverted their procurement process from China where labour cost marked a sharp rise having impact on the export price. Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association also is of the view that more orders for sweaters and pullovers helped the export of knitwear record a sharp rise, making knitwear top the list of exports in FY08. Bangladesh's apparel export earnings in FY08 totalled US $10.7 billion, with knitwear including T-shirts and sweaters accounting for US $5.5 billion. Bangladesh, meanwhile, has become 'top supply source' of sweaters, especially the manually produced ones, at most competitive prices and sweater export will grow more ahead for the next season. Orders for cotton-based sweaters are increasing.

Bangladesh has around 800 sweater and pullover-manufacturing units and many of them were established or expanded production significantly in recent years. Reliable supply of locally produced cotton yarns and operation of several yarn dyeing units with advanced technology are supporting the sweater manufacturers a lot. But frequent incidents of labour unrest damage the reputation of a number of sweater-manufacturing units, and this needs to be addressed.

Checking the prevalence of diabetes

ACCORDING to health experts, the number of diabetic patients aged over 20 is likely to jump to 7.5 million in the country by 2025 from more than four million at present. This alarming rate poses a serious threat to national health. Fast increase of diabetic patients is a global phenomenon. According to sources, over 250 million people live with this disease around the world. Every day, more than 200 children are diagnosed with a type of diabetes the treatment of which involves daily insulin injection. Experts hold particular lifestyle and food habits, urbanisation and different environmental factors responsible for diabetes.

Diabetes is a metabolic condition of the patients. It is basically of two types with different symptoms. While type-1 diabetes involves multiple daily insulin shots and regular monitoring of glucose level in blood, type-2 diabetes is preventable with appropriate lifestyle modifications and proper treatment. Lack of ideas about the causes and symptoms of the ailment stands as an obstacle to its control. Not only the illiterate masses but also the educated people do not have sufficient ideas about the disease. People need to be given correct knowledge about food habits and life style. Diabetes is more prevalent among the city dwellers. One of the causes of this peculiar phenomenon may be that they do not get sufficient open spaces for sports and exercise. Moreover, they have little scope of manual work. The cities should earmark parks and spaces and should make pavements available to the pedestrians to walk. Treatment of diabetes and counselling for the patients should be made available to check the prevalence of the disease.

Pomoting mutnal cooperation in Asian Zone

Md. Masum Billah

Leaders of Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-sectored Technical and Economic Cooperation at a joint post summit press briefing on November 13 said they have identified 13 areas of multi-sector regional cooperation and seven member countries will be benefited from it. It was held in the Durbar Hall of Hotel Taj Palace, New Delhi, India. At present, the world economy is fumbling in the dark and the region is engulfed by hydra-headed terrorism. The superpower United States has witnessed a historical election through which Barak Obama was given mandate for the next four years to preside the world forum. In the midst of these world events, Bimstec, the regional forum held its second summit level meeting. Bhutanese Prime Minister Lyonchhen Jigmi Y Thinley, Myanmar Prime Minister General Thein Sein, Neplese Prime Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Sri Lanka president Somchai Wnagsawt attended the summit, Bangladesh Chief Advisor Dr. Fakrudding Ahmed and Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manomohan Singh participated in this important regional e economic summit.

BIMSTEC members are Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand. In the recently concluded second summit thirteen areas of cooperation were identified on priority basis. These include trade and investment, energy and food safety, fishing, agriculture, health, tourism, environment, counter-terrorism and culture.

A balanced development is possible through BIMSTEC initiatives and the countries can face global economic challenges jointly. According to declaration the Bimstec members will hold the second ministerial conference on poverty alleviation in Nepal next year. It called for strengthening cooperation in poverty alleviation in the context of ensuring food security for vulnerable people in the region. Members also agreed to enhance connectivity and speed up talks on the proposed free trade agreement.

Dr. Manomohan Singh in his opening remarks said, "BIMSTEC is the bridge between SAARC and ASEAN and will help build people to people contact in the region. India will offer additional 150 scholarships in ITEC program to the students of BIMSTEC region which was 300 earlier.

He also informed that setting up of BIMSTEC food bank is under consideration but before that agricultural research and productivity should be raised through regional cooperation.

Bangladesh Chief Advisor repeatedly uttered the necessity of establishing a food bank in various global forums. In this summit also he urged the people concerned to actively think of the point. Though Dr. Singh appreciated the agricultural sector of Bangladesh and its achievement, still Bangladesh faces food crisis and the natural calamites cause dangerous food crisis almost at a regular interval which impelled him to raise the point with much importance.

Dr. Fakrudding also stressed the need for stronger regional cooperation and to craft an institutional mechanism for building food security and place climate change high on their agenda. He said the grouping should explore all possible options of renewable resources of energy including power, hydropower and bio-fuels and called for a target date for the Bimstec free trade agreement to come into effect.

He emphasized sorting out tariffs and on-tariffs barriers to usher in free trade in goods among the Bimstec countries.

Dr. Manomohan Singh made us hear the hopeful utterance. He said "Bimstec free trade agreement would be a shining symbol of our cooperation" He alarmed regarding climate change that even a one metre rise in the sea-level would inundate one firth of Bangladesh rendering 20-30 million people homeless.

He offered to host the permanent secretariat of Bimstec in Dhaka. Saying " We need to cooperate on issues of maritime transport such as construction of a deep water port to service the region, inter modal connectivity, cooperation among our port authorities and our shipping and logistics network." These pragmatic proposals call for serious attention globally in general and regional in particular. Bimstec countries are most vulnerable to natural disasters.

Manomohan chaired the second summit of Bimstec telling that leaders agreed on putting in place a convention on combating terrorism which is ready and can be signed anytime. Terrorism is an issue which has crossed the boundary of individual states. So, collective and joint efforts are necessary to combat the issue effectively and fruitfully which the member states agreed in principle. Now let us see its implementation. We also hope no neutral person suffers. Let this regional economic grouping dominate in the realm of establishing peace in the real sense of the term along with addressing global financial crisis and environmental hazards.

Building bridges with other faiths

Aijaz Zaka Syed

Thomas L Friedman, the New York Times columnist and author, is one of those writers who inspire admiration and indignation in equal measure. You may not always agree with him but you can't put him down either.

Commenting on a Saudi initiative for peace with Israel, also known as Arab Peace Plan, Friedman wrote last year: "What the moribund Israeli-Palestinian talks need most today is an emotional breakthrough.

Another Arab declaration, just reaffirming the Abdullah initiative, won't cut it. If King Abdullah wants to lead - and he has the integrity and credibility to do so - he needs to fly from the Riyadh summit to Jerusalem and deliver the offer personally to the Israeli people. If King Abdullah did the same, he could end this conflict once and for all."

Watching Abdullah unveil a landmark interfaith initiative at the United Nations this past week, one couldn't help recall Friedman's challenge asking the Saudi King to march to Jerusalem for peace.

Well, King Abdullah who takes pride in his position as the Custodian of Islam's two holiest cities, Makkah and Madina, may not have undertaken the journey to Jerusalem, the third city sacred to Muslims as well as Christians and Jews.

But he has done what not long ago would have been equally unthinkable. The erudite king traveled to Vatican last year and met the Pope offering him peace and friendship on behalf of the Muslim world. Given the long history of the Crusades and bitter relations between the followers of Islam and Christianity, that gesture by Abdullah marked a watershed. But then this King has always been unconventional in many ways. Notwithstanding his advanced years, he has repeatedly gone out of his way to reach out to the world demolishing stereotypes in the West about the Saudis and Arabs in general.

His meeting with the Pope took place at a time when there was great anger and frustration in the Muslim world over the US and Western policies in the Middle East. Memories of the Danish cartoon slur and Pope Benedict's own controversial remarks about Islam and its Prophet were still fresh and raw.

At a time like this, it demanded great courage and integrity on the part of a Saudi King to visit Vatican and exchange gifts with the Pope. But it was worth it. The visit heralded a new era in the relations of two Abrahamic faiths that have so much in common yet have seldom been at peace with each other.

Abdullah's mission to Vatican was perhaps the strongest message of peace and goodwill to emanate from Arabia since the dawn of Islam in Makkah.

And that was no chance encounter. It wasn't even an attempt to score diplomatic brownie points, as Friedman suggests.

The Saudis are too serious a people to indulge themselves in pointless diplomatic shenanigans or do something when their heart is not in it.

Under Abdullah, Saudi Arabia is indeed dead serious in reaching out to the larger world.

As the leader of the Muslim world, the country is keen to mend its fences with the world.

Why do I think so? Because since that historic encounter with the Pope last year, the Saudis have unveiled numerous such initiatives to build bridges with the world.

Earlier this year in June, Abdullah hosted hundreds of scholars in the holy city of Makkah to discuss ways of promoting tolerance and interfaith dialogue.

The King followed it up with another high profile event that he hosted in Madrid, Spain. It was attended by representatives from Vatican, Anglican Church, Judaism, Hinduism and other faiths. And now he has taken his battle of hearts and minds to the global centre-stage at the UN.

Now that is remarkable for a country that has been endlessly demonized in the world media as the breeding ground of "extremist Islam" and for its alleged "links" to September 11 attacks.

These initiatives are highly significant considering the reclusive nature of the kingdom and its traditional unwillingness to throw its weight around despite its standing in the Muslim world and its clout as the largest oil producer in the world.

Which is perhaps why global movers and shakers, from President Bush to Prime Minister Brown and from Arab and Muslim heads of states to religious leaders, everyone turned up to join Abdullah's initiative to improve relations between faiths, especially between Islam and the West, and present the real, humane face of the faith practiced by 1.6 billion people. It's such a shame therefore that the Saudi initiative has failed to receive the attention it really deserves. This exercise to illuminate Islam's liberating teachings couldn't have come at a more appropriate time.

For far too long, especially after 9/11, Muslims have watched with increasing concern and helplessness as extremists on both sides try to paint their great faith as some sort of extremist cult. While the militants have consciously or unconsciously exploited the religion to push their agenda, the Western media and neocons have conveniently used individual acts of violence to justify their crusade against Islam and its followers.

This is time to rediscover and reinvent the faith that has given the world nothing but peace, equality, justice and universal brotherhood. This is what it teaches and preaches. And this is why all of us believe in it. Its universal teachings have enriched the world civilization including the West.

This is why when this humane and most reasonable faith is coupled with extremism, it hurts.

And every time innocents are killed in its name and an atrocity is dumped in its account, Muslims the world over ask themselves: "Where are our leaders? Why don't they speak out against this mindless violence in the name of our religion? Why don't they say: 'Not in our name!" For this is not the faith we know and practice.

Unfortunately, nothing but a deafening silence greeted their anguished pleas.

Thank God that deafening silence has finally been broken. At last, someone is prepared to say: "Not in our name!" But one voice is not enough. What Saudi Arabia under Abdullah is doing is very noble. It's indeed need of the hour. But it must be backed and boosted by such initiatives across the globe. Let's make some real noise wherever we are. Let's say loud and clear: Not in our name! For God's sake, no!

Cyber terrorism in the UK

Musa Khan Jalalzai

The future of military, economic and political security of the UK is in danger. The emergence of newly recruited cyber armies of Russia, China, Japan, Pakistan, India and Southeast Asian countries are trying to penetrate into the country financial system. The Cold War has been replaced by economic and financial warfare. Cyber terrorism and its tactics have badly disturbed the banking system of the European nations since the arrival of thousands cyber warriors from Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Africa and the Arab world. This is the most dangerous warfare which destroys financial and military assets.

Today, citizens of Britain are facing the worst form of cyber terrorism. They use electronic attacks on institutions for many advantages. First, it is cheaper and the action is very difficult to be tracked. Second, they also use the method of distributed denial of services to overburden the government and its agencies electronic bases. According to Internet security company McAfee's annual report for 2007, about 120 countries are developing ways to use the Internet as a weapon to target financial markets, government computer systems and utilities, McAfee said in an annual report. Intelligence agencies, the report warned, already routinely test other states' networks looking for weaknesses and their techniques are growing more sophisticated every year, it said. The report predicted that future attacks would be even more sophisticated. WebIndia123.com reported about the threat of cyber terror in the region.

It is not only Britain, the report revealed, that is facing a major cyber attack threat from over 120 countries, but also nations like India, the US and Germany. China's ambitions extend to crippling an enemy's financial, military and communications capabilities early in a conflict, according to military documents and generals' speeches that are being analyzed by US intelligence officials.

China has a significant cyber weapons and intelligence infrastructure in place today. What is alarming is not only do they have the intent, but they have the money. Numerous financial institutions in various countries evacuated their premises on September 11.

In some instances, it was because they were in buildings directly affected by the attacks. This warfare is an integral part of world economic order. It, however, already harmed the financial and investment climate of the UK and Europe. The attack of cyber terrorist on money supply of the region has faced banking with an uneven crisis. This is a complicated issue, much more complicated than has ever been. The main objectives of the cyber war are to cause networks damage and their disruptions. This may divert the attention of the security agencies for the time being thus giving the terrorists extra time and makes their task comparatively easier. Over the years, new technology and the global network allowed a new breed of the hacker groups' emergence.

Cyber warriors can destroy the economy of a country by attacking the military and financial infrastructure in the big cities. In 1998, Tamil cyber warriors attacked Sri Lankan embassies with 800 e-mails a day over a two-week period. The messages read "We are the Internet Black Tigers and we are doing this to disrupt your communications.''

In 1999, during the Kosovo war, Nato computers were blasted with e-mail bombs and hit with denial-of-service attacks by hackers. Illegal and underground foreign cyber warriors in the UK and Europe have been focusing on the banking system and the police operational network.

They run their network with the help of drug lords and human smugglers. Passports mafia from Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and European nations have started printing fake British passport to provide travel facilities to their terrorist groups into the UK and other countries. Fake indefinite visas and NI numbers are being circulated there in thousands. Fake British currencies are being printed in various cities. ID and visa fraudsters are in alliance with the drug mafia and their networks.

They go through personal files and even employ desks to obtain names, job titles, social security numbers, home addresses and other information available. In addition, businesses, public organisations, and academic institutes received highly politicised virus-laden e-mails from these networks. Information networks of these groups jam TV and radio transmission. The can hijack radio and TV transmission for a disinformation campaign.

They sabotage the transaction of stock exchange. During the Gulf war in 1991, Dutch hackers stole information about the US troop movements from Pentagon computers. Information warfare has become the new post-Cold War era national security catch phrase. This new kind of warfare has harmed the military institutions of many countries.

Cyber warfare is a complex aspect of the modern war, but it is not a new feature. It has been called by various names in the past - intelligence and electronic warfare. Some of the cyber warfare notions are absurd, such as bringing a society to its knees through an exotic electronic disruption to banking systems or air traffic control networks.

Extremist groups train their workers for the future cyber warfare. When they became complete warriors, they will put in danger the whole military and financial institutions of the UK. Extremist organisations also use the Internet to target their audiences without depending on overt mechanisms such as radio, TV, or the press. Asian hackers are using various viruses to gather information from workers in the UK Government and the national infrastructure. The Trojans come as attachments or through links to specially crafted websites and use social engineering tactics that come from spoofed senders.

Britain is being criticised for not paying sufficient attention to computer-based threats since merging the National Hi Tech Crime Unit with the Serious Organised Crime Agency. The Virtual Criminology Report found that attacks "have progressed from initial curiosity probes to well-funded and well-organised operations for political, military, economic and technical espionage".

According to a research finding in various countries, bio-chips and direct-man computer communication are called in military terms SQIDs or super Quantum Interference Devices that detect brainwave pattern activity. In the near future SQIDs will be able to read minds.

Al Qaeda as a network has known connections to the extremist groups of Pakistani and Middle East countries that established contacts to some hacker groups that are then operating against other targets. For example, al Qaeda uses electronic devices to communicate with its members. High-ranking officials in the UK and the US have for the first time identified the cyber attacks of the Chinese government. According to The Times of London report, Jonathan Evans, Director General of MI5, the UK's counterintelligence and security service, said that his country was under attack by "Chinese state organisations." China has trained a young cyber army for the future financial war in the region..