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Not only duty-free, let Bangladesh's RMG get string-free access to US
Faruque Ahmed
Every good news for Bangladesh garment industry comes with some strings attached. There is no exception to it in the new bill that two congressmen, Joseph Crowley and McDormet, have introduced in the US House of Representatives recently. It aims at allowing duty-free access to exports of the least developed countries (LDCs), on the list of which Bangladesh figures prominently...[ FULL STORY ]
PATIENT PEOPLE GETTING RESTIVE
Return to old-styled power game unlikely
Sadeq Khan
Despite some determined attempts to browbeat the nicely-nicely advisers' team of the caretaker government by political and quasi-political people power, labour power and student power clouts, Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed's administration has stayed on course...[ FULL STORY ]
Acid test of unity awaits new BNP leadership
Shamsuddin Ahmed
The dramatic change in BNP leadership has surprised the political circles. The meeting on Monday night of the standing committee, the highest policymaking body of the party, made Saifur Rahman the acting chairman and replaced Khandaker Delwar Hossain with former minister Major (retd) Hafizuddin Ahmed as the acting secretary general. The decision is understandably backed by the administration and obviously has gone in favour of the reformist group in the party...[ FULL STORY ]
Quality primary education still a far cry
Abdur Rahman Khan
Bangladesh has been trying relentlessly to uphold the cause of education since its very emergence. To facilitate and formulate a programme for universal primary education and to remove illiteracy from the country, the government in 1992 created a separate division named Primary and Mass Education Division (PMED). The PMED was later elevated to the status of a ministry in 2003...[ FULL STORY ]
Separation of Judiciary makes Nov 1 a red-letter day
Mohammad A. Sattar
November 1 will be marked as a red-letter day in the country's history. A long journey, of 36 years, has come to an end. The path has been strewn with thorns, but the need, resilience, and determination have overcome the odds. The judiciary has now become independent of the executive...[ FULL STORY ]
WORLD BANK REPORT
Bangladesh well poised to be an MIC in a decade-I
Xian Zhu and Sandeep Mahajan
The recently published World Bank report, Bangladesh: Strategy for Sustained Growth raises an important and consequential question: how can Bangladesh become a middle-income country (MIC) in the shortest amount of time? The answer to that, of course, lies in how fast the country manages to grow. For example, if GDP growth picks up to a sustained rate of 7.5 per cent - something only a select few countries have achieved in recent history - Bangladesh can become an MIC by 2016. If average growth falls to the 3 per cent rate seen in the 1980s, the MIC aspiration will have to wait for another five decades!...[ FULL STORY ]
UN body asks India to submit full report on Gujarat riots
Ripan Kumar Biswas in New York
The gruesome killings of the Gujarat tragedy evoke a dreadful sensation in our minds...[ FULL STORY ]
UNODC'S DELHI CONFERENCE TOLD
25,000 Bangladeshi women, kids trafficked to India annually
Nava Thakuria in New Delhi
Over 25,000 young women and children are trafficked from Bangladesh to India annually. Nearly 1,50,000 people -- mostly women and children -- are trafficked within South Asia every year with false promises, inducement or lure of a good job, a good marriage or acting opportunity in the entertainment industry. This was disclosed by Gary Lewis, Representative of UNODC in South Asia, at the Delhi conference last month. The number of trafficked people from Nepal is about 15,000, who are brought illegally for the primary purpose of prostitution and slavery, Lewis added...[ FULL STORY ]
GLIMPSES OF THE GREAT
Fidel Castro
K. Z. Islam
Fidel Castro (1926) came to power on the tiny island nation of Cuba on New Year's day 1959. In his role as a national leader he has outlasted ten Presidents of the United States and all the rulers of the rest of the world. Apart from Queen Elizabeth-II no head of state has held this office longer...[ FULL STORY ]
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