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Arguments for and against are compelling
National Government in the offing?
M. Shahidul Islam in Toronto
In politics, two minuses do not always add up to a desirable plus. Yet, following the CEC's declaration in early April that election will not be held in the next 18 months at the least, paradoxically brisk moves are afoot to form a National Government (NG). Reliable sources told this scribe that the structure and the composition of the NG are in an advanced stage and it might be comprised of 25-30 members under the leadership of the Chief Adviser... [ FULL STORY ]
ETV concealed facts from Court
No terrestrial facility for any private
TV channel, says Mainul
K. Reza
Information and Law Adviser Barrister Mainul Hosein told Holiday that the ministry of information would not provide any terrestrial transmission facilities to private TV channel ETV as the original agreement between the government-owned BTV and ETV was cancelled by a Supreme Court judgement on 22 August 2002... [ FULL STORY ]
Graft case against Hasina shakes politics
A.R. Khan
The emergency-backed interim government of Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed entered its fourth month in power on April 12 by bringing a thorough change in politics and governance keeping the mandated task of holding a free and fair elections pending for indefinite period. This it did on the ground of making polls credible and acceptable by cleansing politics from corruption and bringing certain reforms in the electoral process... [ FULL STORY ]
Army chief's 2 April speech
Poor governance stagnates economy, reform accelerates it
Sadeq Khan
A member of the young generation of Bangladesh today, rich or poor, scholar or wage-earner, at home or abroad has the privilege of a global exposure that the previous generation did not have. Impacts of a large expatriate community from all walks of life adapting to living and working in multiracial cultures contacts with friends and relations world over through e-mail and internet, job seeking and self-employment within and without the borders of the nation-state, and experience of buying and selling and serving in the globalised market are making the average young man keenly aware of the competition or the handicap he has to overcome for survival and achievement as an individual and as a nation... [ FULL STORY ]
Singapore PM to get five times
more pay than US President
Fazle Rashid in New York
The cabinet ministers in the Republic of Singapore have evolved a unique method to determine their salary structure, the New York Times reported in a story from its correspondent in Singapore. The ministers have placed before the government two options. The options are to give them a pay hike or allow them to indulged in corruption... [ FULL STORY ]
WB chief accused of nepotism
Emad Mekay in Washington
A controversial raise for a World Bank (WB) employee who has been romantically involved with the Bank's President Paul Wolfowitz was not the work of the Bank's Ethics Committee, as originally alleged by the WB President's own office, according to the watchdog group that leaked the information... [ FULL STORY ]
THE BOTTOM LINE
Taher Quddus
A Stranger was standing for long besides the gate of my house.
"Who is that man standing there?" I asked the guard.
"He wants to meet you alone. He does not disclose his identity."
"Tell him I am not going to meet a stanger."
"I told him that but he says it is very important for both of you."
While leaving my house, I stopped my car at the gate.
"What is the matter with you? What do you want from me?" I asked the stranger.
"I am going to talk to you something very private and of mutual interest. May I get into the car?
Hesitantly I let him in. He entered and requested me to have the driver outside the car. I agreed... [ FULL STORY ]
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