[ALOCHONA] Protect national interest while dealing with India

Protect national interest while dealing with India

Speakers at a seminar on Thursdayurged the government to protect
national interest while negotiating with Indiaduring the upcoming
visit of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Bangladeshfrom
September 6 to 9.

People are expecting a win-win situation insigning different
bilateral agreements , memorandum of understanding (MOU) andprotocols
between Dhaka and Delhi during the visit of the Indian premier,
theytold the seminar on "Upcoming Manmohan's visit: Veracity
andProspects" held in the National Press Club.

Organized by South Asia Youth forPeace and Prosperity Society it was
chaired by chairman of Center for ForeignAffairs Studies Ambassador
Ashfaqur Rahman. Prof. Dilara Choudhury presentedthe keynote paper.

Editor of The New Nation MostafaKamal Majumder, editor of the New Age
Nurul Kabir, editor of daily sun ProfSyed Anwar Hossain spoke as the
guest of honour.

Brig Gen (retd) Shahedul AnamKhan, Prof Faridul Alam of Chittagong
University, senior journalist andcolumnist Zaglul Ahmed Chowdhury,
among others, also addressed the seminar.

Prof Dr Dilara Choudhury, in her keynote paper,said transit and
corridor are two different things. Transit means going to athird
country using the land of second country, while corridor means going
fromone destination to another of the same country using the territory
of secondcountry, she added.

While using Ashuganj-Agartalaroad, India will get corridor instead of
transit, she said, adding for thatBangladesh will not get any fees. On
the other hand, giving corridor endangerssovereignty of the country,
she said.

Ambassador Ashfaq, in his briefspeech, said Bangladesh can achieve its
rightful shares from India or any othercountry "If we could develop
enough diplomatic and negotiatingskill."

Brig. Shahedul Anam said in thename of Ashuganj-Agartala transit,
Bangladesh is actually giving corridor toIndia. Since independence, he
said, Bangladesh has given enough to India, nowit is India's turn to
give a good delivery to Bangladesh.

Emphasizing the need forupholding national interest in foreign policy
Brig Shahed said Bangladesh isnot a good bargainer, this limitation
should be removed.

Terming the seminar a very timelyand useful one Mostafa Kamal Majumder
said Bangladesh now wants to seemagnanimity from Indian side in
solving different bilateral issues, includingsharing of waters of
international rivers.

He said except Indus, India controls all therivers flowing through
Bangladesh. Obstruction made by barrages and dams onfree flow of
rivers in the upper riparian is destroying Bangladesh's reverielife,
he added.

Referring to decommissioning ofstructures on rivers in Europe and
America, he said Bangladesh may face erosionin coastal belts if
unilateral withdrawal of water in the upper riparian is notstopped.

About Indian propaganda onBangladeshis crossing border, Nurul Kabir
said Bangladesh's rural economy isbetter than India.

Giving transit to India withoutnational consensus will not bring any
good for either side, he said, addingpolitical parties in Bangladesh
should be united to protect nationalinterest.

Prof Syed Anwar Hossain saidBangladesh needs to formulate an 'India
Policy' on permanent basis to negotiatebilateral issues with the
neighboring country.

Zaglul A Choudhury said the visitof Indian premier should be viewed
objectively. People are in much expectationthat the visit will bring
positive outcome for Bangladesh.

Prof. Faridul Alam, evaluatingIndia's behaviour with Bangladesh during
last forty years, said in case ofnational interest India never gives
any concession.

http://thenewnationbd.com/newsdetails.aspx?newsid=15037

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[ALOCHONA] Analysis- India ranked top Super power [1 Attachment]

[Attachment(s) from Abu Zafar Mahmood included below]

Attachment(s) from Abu Zafar Mahmood

1 of 1 File(s)

Analysis- India ranked top Super power.docx

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[ALOCHONA] police-brutality-in-bangladesh

১লাখ ৫০ হাজার অভিযোগ: মানুষের কাছে আইনরক্ষাকারীরা এখন আতঙ্ক

পুলিশের অপরাধ সর্বকালের রেকর্ড ভঙ্গ 
পুলিশকে রাখা হয়েছে আইনশৃঙ্খলা রক্ষার জন্য। সমাজের অপরাধ দমনের জন্য। এই অপরাধ দমনের দায়িত্ব যাদের, সেই পুলিশ দিনদিনই অপরাধী কর্মকান্ডে জড়িয়ে পড়ছে। দিনদিনই হয়ে উঠছে বেপরোয়া। ঘুষ, ছিনতাই, চাঁদাবাজি, ডাকাতি, নির্যাতন, ব্লাকমেইলিংয়ের পাশাপাশি খুনের মতো গুরুতর অপরাধেà¦" জড়িয়ে পড়ছে পুলিশ। সংশ্লিষ্ট সুত্র জানায় পুলিশ সদস্যের বিরুদ্ধে পুলিশ সদর দফতরে এ ধরনের ১ লাখ ৫০ হাজার অভিযোগ জমা পড়ে আছে।তবে প্রকৃত অপরাধের ঘটনা আরো অনেক বেশী। অধিকাংশ ক্ষেত্রে তা ধামাচাপা পড়ে যাচ্ছে। এ ছাড়া আদালতেà¦" পুলিশের বিরুদ্ধে হাজার হাজার মামলাà¦" ঝুলে আছে। ্তবে পুলিশ সদস্যদের শাস্তি পেতে হয় না। বাদীপক্ষকে বিভিন্নভাবে ভয়ভীতি দেখিয়ে মামলা উঠিয়ে নিতে বাধ্য করা হয় বলেà¦" অভিযোগ আছে। এ অবস্থায় পুলিশ-সদস্যরা ক্রমশ হিংস্র হয়ে উঠছে। পুলিশ এখন আতঙ্কে পরিণত হয়েছে সাধারণ মানুষের জন্য...বিস্তারিত ...
একুশ নিউজ মিডিয়া এখন ফেস বুক এ 

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[mukto-mona] Re: Where have you been, Mr. Buffet?

Dr. Roy:

Dr. Roy's analysis of Warren Buffet's article displays brilliance -- no one knew before that Buffet pays less taxes because of his dividend incomes. I may send a copy of the write up to m. That may deter him to write on taxes.

Also I'm wondering why no one previously knew that American corporations pay taxes in foreign countries where their businesses are located so they cannot be double taxed in the U.S. I teach that in my economics 001 course. I have been paying taxes in Bangladesh for my share of a small business in Bangladesh and pay the difference here. May be next time I should cheat and show no income from Bangladesh. I will have to talk to a Tea Party lawyer about that.

Look at the Clown from Texas, Governor Rick Perry. He used Stimulus funds to balance his budget and now claiming credit for balancing the budget. Everyone already laughing at his low wage or below minimum job creation claim, 50% of which are created by influx of immigrate population which led to higher demand for consumer goods and more production. He may be the next run away cowboy President with a Nuclear Trigger switch at his pocket. He "talks like a thug, walks like a thug and looks like a thug-- he is a Tea Party thug-- like it or not. He wants to treat Fed Chairman ugly if he comes to Texas. Only a Tea Party Thug talks like that.

By the way, I have looked into the academic profiles of most Tea Party lawmakers. They're mostly stupid like Sara Palin and Michelle Bachmann and lacks any intellectual insihts as are most Republicans. We should all read the New York Times article by David Campbell of Notre Dame College and his highly acclaimed jointly authored book about Tea Party movement.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Jiten Roy" <jnrsr53@yahoo.com>
To: adhikaa@gmail.com, ajitroy71@gmail.com, "amit chowdhury" <amit_chowdhury@hotmail.com>, kanchanbhatta@yahoo.com, db174@columbia.edu, bidyut8@aol.com, "charbak bd" <charbak_bd@yahoo.com>, dchowdhu@sbcglobal.net, kkdas02@yahoo.com, adewan@emich.edu, ganeshg508@aol.com, guhasb@gmail.com, pradipkar@msn.com, KatariaN@aol.com, kumarbh@hotmail.com, "Devabrata Mondal" <Devabrata.Mondal@liu.edu>, mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com, chitipatra2001@yahoo.com, bithi16@yahoo.com, juniper2837@yahoo.com
Sent: Wednesday, August 17, 2011 9:29:10 PM
Subject: Where have you been, Mr. Buffet?

Please read my very first internet blog-posting:

http://jiten-blog.over-blog.com/article-where-have-you-been-mr-buffet-81795365.html

Thanks.

Jiten Roy

--
Abdullah A Dewan
M.S.(nuclr. eng), Ph.D (econ)
Professor of Economics
Eastern Michigan University
Ypsilanti, MI 48187
Ph. #(734)487-0003

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Mukto Mona plans for a Grand Darwin Day Celebration:
Call For Articles:

http://mukto-mona.com/wordpress/?p=68

http://mukto-mona.com/banga_blog/?p=585

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VISIT MUKTO-MONA WEB-SITE : http://www.mukto-mona.com/

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[ALOCHONA] Los Angeles observed the BD National Mourning Day

http://ekush.wordpress.com/2011/08/16/bongabhandhu/  বিনম্র শ্রদ্ধা আর হৃদয় নিংড়ানো ভালবাসায় সারা জাতির সাথে প্রবাসীরা à¦" স্মরণ করেছে স্বাধীন বাংলাদেশের স্থপতি ইতিহাসের মহানায়ক বঙ্গবন্ধু শেখ মুজিবুর রহমানকে। শোক-শ্রদ্ধায় পালিত হয়েছে তার ৩৬তম শাহাদাত বার্ষিকী। শ্রদ্ধা জানানো হয়েছে ১৫ই আগস্টে শাহাদাতবরণকারীদের বঙ্গবন্ধু পরিবারের সদস্যদের স্মৃতির প্রতি। জাতীয় শোক দিবসে সর্বত্র উচ্চারিত হয়েছে বঙ্গবন্ধুর পালিয়ে থাকা খুনিদের দেশে ফিরিয়ে এনে ফাঁসির রায় কার্যকর করার দাবি। বাংলাদেশ কন্সুলেট লস এঞ্জেলেস সহ আà¦"য়ামী লীগের আয়োজনে দুইটি শোক à¦" স্মরণসভার আয়োজন করে। রমজান মাস হà¦"য়ায় কর্মসূচির মধ্যে ছিল ভাবগম্ভীর পরিবেশ। ইফতার মাহফিলের মধ্যে বঙ্গবন্ধুর à¦" তাঁর পরিবারের সব শহীদ সদস্যের রুহের মাগফেরাত এবং দেশের সার্বিক কল্যাণ কামনা করে ফাতেহা পাঠ à¦" বিশেষ মোনাজাত করা হয়। স্থানীয় কন্সুলেটে প্রেসিডেন্ট à¦" প্রধানমন্ত্রীর বানী পাঠ করা হয়। ইফতারীর মধ্য দিয়ে অনুষ্ঠানের সমাপ্তি ঘটে।জাহান হাসানের ভিডিà¦" রিপোর্ট। Picture Links: Los Angeles observed the National Mourning Day

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[ALOCHONA] Will transit to India enhance regional connectivity?

Will transit to India enhance regional connectivity?

M.A. Taslim

The important question is whether or not international law requires freedom of all transit including travel between two points of the same country through the territory of another.

There is no ambiguity about freedom of transit to land-locked countries:

"Land-locked States shall have the right of access to and from the sea for the purpose of exercising the rights provided for in this Convention including those relating to the freedom of the high seas and the common heritage of mankind. To this end, land-locked States shall enjoy freedom of transit through the territory of transit States by all means of transport." (UNCLOS 1982, Article 125 Clause 1)

However, transit from one coastal state to another is less clear. GATT 1947 stipulates:

"There shall be freedom of transit through the territory of each contracting party, via the routes most convenient for international transit, for traffic in transit to or from the territory of other contracting parties. No distinction shall be made which is based on the flag of vessels, the place of origin, departure, entry, exit or destination, or on any circumstances relating to the ownership of goods, of vessels or of other means of transport." (Article V, Clause 2)

The use of the term 'international transit' above is significant. It seems to suggest that GATT calls for freedom of international transit. The important question then is whether goods travelling between two points of the same country through the territory of another country qualify to be called international transit.

GATT (and its current incarnation World Trade Organisation or WTO) was a multilateral organisation for promoting international trade through uniform laws. Nothing in GATT relates to exclusively internal matters of a Contracting Party. Since transit between two points of the same country, albeit through the territory of another country, is essentially internal trade, it is unlikely that GATT would have contemplated regulating such trade. This seems to be the broad international understanding. UNCTAD Trust Fund for Trade Facilitation Negotiations states:

In the WTO context, goods are defined to be in transit when the crossing of the territory of another WTO Member constitutes only part of the journey between departure and final destination country ... . GATT Article V therefore only refers to so-called through-transit, i.e. transit in the GATT context, normally involves at least three states. (Technical Note 8, rev 2, February 2009, emphases added.)

Thus, transit between two points of the same country through the territory of another country does not fall within the purview of Article V as it is commonly understood by the international community. It seems nations were aware of the political and security aspects of transit and therefore avoided multilateralisation of the issue. Bangladesh is under no international obligation to offer transit to India which has a much larger coast than what Bangladesh has. Hence, transit to India must be decided bilaterally or sub-regionally.

It is customary to begin a discourse on transit by pointing out the limited scale of trade in the South Asia region relative to other regions such as South-East Asia. This is attributed to restrictive cross-country regulations and trade logistics problems. Without mentioning which countries are imposing these restrictions, the authors jump to the conclusion that if Bangladesh offers transit between North-East and rest of India (i.e. East-West transit through Bangladesh), it will melt away the trade barriers and thereby substantially increase trade and investment in the entire region.

Actually these arguments do not fully apply to Bangladesh. India is the largest trade partner of Bangladesh with two-way formal and informal trade putatively in the region of $6.0 billion. India is the second largest source of formal import of Bangladesh accounting for 15 per cent of the total import in 2009-10. If probable informal import is added, the figure rises to around 25 per cent, which makes it the largest source of import for Bangladesh. Bangladeshi export faces substantial non-tariff hurdles erected by India, but nonetheless export to India exceeded half billion dollars last year. But for these hurdles export to India would have been much greater and total trade greater. There can be no doubt that there is scope for substantial expansion of trade with India if the trade barriers are relaxed.

It is claimed that transit to India will enhance regional connectivity and thereby promote greater trade and investment. However, a little reflection will reveal that East-West transit to India does not do much for regional connectivity; it only improves internal connectivity of India by making traffic movement from the West to North-East India quicker and cheaper. It is unlikely that Bangladesh will gain greater access to either the North-East or the rest of India due to transit.

Currently access to North-East India is hampered by various non-tariff barriers and infrastructure bottlenecks. The Ministry of Commerce (MoC) has been complaining about these barriers for a long time without much success in reducing them significantly. It would seem that India is not particularly keen about Bangladesh having extensive economic and commercial ties with North-East India. East-West transit will enable India to prevent Bangladesh from gaining a sheltered market in North-East India by largely offsetting its geographical comparative advantage. India could transport goods from the rest of the country to the North-East quickly and cheaply through the transit corridor, but Bangladeshi goods could be made unattractive through an appropriate choice of non-tariff barriers.

It should be very clear that connectivity of Bangladesh with Bhutan, Nepal and North-east India is not automatically enhanced by East-West transit unless India makes it a pre-condition of connectivity, and it does. What the Core Committee is suggesting is that East-West transit to India will pacify India to give Bangladesh better access to the North-East. East-West transit is neither necessary nor sufficient to secure access to North-East India. Bangladesh may end up losing its principal bargaining chip without much tangible gain.

While East-West transit does not automatically enhance regional connectivity, North-South transit does serve this end. Both Bhutan and Nepal gain by having North-South transit routes through Bangladesh. Bangladesh also gains direct access to these countries unless India creates hurdles.

The biggest gainers from North-South transit are the North-East Indian states. Their international trade (though not internal trade) will be greatly facilitated by access to Chittagong port. Bangladesh will gain from providing transit services including port services. The magnitude of the gain will depend on the skills of the negotiators on both sides. Trade and investment in the region are likely to be promoted by such transit. As economic development of the North-East is accelerated by the transit, trade and investment should flourish.

The geographical location of Bangladesh gives it a comparative advantage in trade with the North-Eastern states vis-a-vis other states of India as well as other countries of the world. This advantage should be protected as far as practicable to exploit the trade benefits. East-West transit dilutes this comparative advantage to a large extent. Hence, such transit should not be granted without ample compensation. However, North-South transit appears to benefit the entire region including Bangladesh. These considerations should be borne in mind when negotiating a deal with India.

A major obstacle to transit is the inadequacies of the transit infrastructure on both sides of the border. Roads and rail tracks of Bangladesh that might be used for transit are in an appalling condition. They can hardly bear the load of domestic traffic, which is increasing at a rapid rate. The total breakdown of transport services along some of the arterial roads recently is a stark reminder of the need to very substantially improve the transport infrastructure of the country. It would be a mistake to allow transit traffic without first ensuring that the transport infrastructure can bear the load of both domestic and transit traffic.
.....................................................
The writer is a professor of the Department of Economics, University of Dhaka. He can be reached at e-mail: m_a_taslim@yahoo.com

http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/more.php?news_id=146605&date=2011-08-18

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