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GEOPOLITICAL FRICTIONS INTENSIFY
Nepal crisis poses 'Himalayan challenge' for Dhaka too
M. Shahidul Islam
The ongoing crisis in Nepal fans further the blazing ring of fire that has begun to engulf the region since July 2005 when the Indo-US strategic relationship began to assert itself for regional and global hegemony following the signing of a peaceful nuclear deal between the two countries.
Ever since, instability became the buzzword as reactive anger of the Islamists and the Maoist alike began to stoke more flames from Karachi to Kathmandu.
The latest crisis in Nepal is linked with the dreadful evolution of regional politics since that water shade event, with India being more assertive and bellicose in its dealings with other small neighbours, especially with strategically important but militarily weaker Nepal and Bangladesh...[ FULL STORY ]
THE ANUP CHETIA CASE
Govt. pushing ULFA to settle
issue with Delhi
Subir Bhoumick
The ULFA is under huge pressure from Bangladesh to start a "positive dialogue" with the Indian government after the parliament elections are over and a new government takes charge in Delhi. Regardless of who comes to power in Delhi, the Awami League government wants the ULFA to open political negotiations and leave the country. Through clandestine channels, possibly its own intelligence which has nurtured the ULFA for more than a decade, the League government has made it clear to the Assamese rebel leadership that Dhaka cannot accept a strain in its relationship with Delhi for the sake of ULFA or any other northeast Indian rebel groups based in Bangladesh...[ FULL STORY ]
Travails of South Asian nations aggravate
Fazle Rashid in New York
The travails of the South Asian nations have aggravated further rather than dissipating. Bangladesh of course is a rare exception where everything according to Government leaders is "under control".
South Asian nations are under double-pronged attack. Economic malaises tend to tear apart the nations. More troublesome of course is the political turmoil the countries are facing. Pakistan in particular finds itself entangled in an endless bloody battle with the rising tide of the Islamic insurgency spreading concern over the safety of its nuclear arsenal.
In Nepal prime minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has stepped down in a dispute over the sacking of the army chief Rooknangud Katawal who refused to absorb the Maoist rebels in country's regular army. About 19,000 former fighters remain under UN supervision under a peace accord. The Nepalese president Ram Baran Yadav overruled prime minister's decision and reinstated the army chief. ..[ FULL STORY ]
Budget: Doubling of domestic borrowing won't be realistic
Faisal Rahim
The next budget for 2009-10 is going to be highly loan-dependent to bring macroeconomic balance at new stake. Informed sources and newspaper reports said the new budget is likely to be proposed around Taka 110,000 crore this time and more than Taka 31,000 crore of this amount would be financed through domestic borrowing.
The Government is talking of a lucrative revenue target of Taka 60,000 crore for the next budget compared to Taka 54,500 crore under the current fiscal 2008-09. ..[ FULL STORY ]
Chaos grips Nepal as Maoists start
street agitation
Shamsuddin Ahmed
Political uncertainty and chaos loom large in Nepal as Prime Minister Puspa Kamal Dahal (Prachanda) of the eight-month old Maoist government has resigned following a row over dismissal of Army chief Gen Katawal. Dahal was under severe pressure of his party's rank and file for sacking the 'pro-Indian royalist' army chief who had been persistently opposing integration into the armed forces of some 19,000 Maoist rebels who fought against the national army for a decade...[ FULL STORY ]
Grand alliance partners unhappy
Abdur Rahman Khan
The grand alliance led by Bangladesh Awami League is facing internal crisis due to lack of close coordination and differences over the running of state affairs.
The major partner Jatiya Party has already come out with open criticism about government that deprived its Chairperson HM Ershad of the committed share in the government.
Annoyed with the sliding law and order situation, HM Ershad asked the Prime Minister to restrain Chhatra League whose leaders and workers have been accused on violence on the campuses, and infighting over toll collection and influence on the campus...[ FULL STORY ]
BANGLADESH SCENARIO
Two presidents' dialogue
Mumtaz Iqbal
Bangladesh's past Presidents - Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (B) and Ziaur Rahman (Z) - meet somewhere to talk about current Bangladesh. Excerpts from their conversation:
B: Hello, Zia. Thanks for coming.
Z: The pleasure's all mine, Bangabandhu. How could I refuse your gracious invitation?
B: Well, our record of meeting is better than your wife and my daughter. What's on your mind, Zia?
Z: Bangabandhu, congratulations on Hasina's victory.
B: Thank you. After the quixotic activities of your wife, children and the Caretaker Government (CG), the boat as the residual beneficiary skilfully navigated the anti-incumbent wave to reach the shore...[ FULL STORY ]
GLIMPSES OF THE GREAT
Titu Mir
K. Z. Islam
Sayyid Nisar Ali (1781-1831) nick named Titu Mir is considered to be Shahid and Ghazi among the Muslims. However, to get an objective account of his life we should also look at some of the British accounts of his life as most of his biographies written by Muslims are hagiographies...[ FULL STORY ]
HALF OF OUR PEOPLE UNDER POVERTY LINE
Govt. should stock 20 lakh tons of rice
Abdur Rahman Khan
Almost half of our population is now living below the poverty line and those under extreme poverty level may have slid down to 25-30 per cent, fears Dr Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad, President of Bangladesh Economic Association.
Offset
"It did not happen suddenly", he explained adding that the twin-flood and the Sidr that devastated the country in 2007 had contributed a lot to the growing poverty while the increased food price during 2008 and the impact of global recession added to our miseries...[ FULL STORY ]
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