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HIDDEN AGENDA' CLOUDS BDR-BSF TALKS
Regional Task Force in the offing under guise of joint patrolling
M. Shahidul Islam
The stain and stench of slaughtered BDR officers' corpses are yet to be erased fully while, in the very Peelkhana compound, a high-stake strategic gambling has occurred during the BDR-BSF meeting of July 12-14, casting dark shadows over the defence and national security policies of the nation.
Under the guise of activating joint patrolling at the Indo-Bangladesh borders, the governments of India and Bangladesh have made a radical strategic move in that meeting to create a Regional Task Force (RTF)...[ FULL STORY ]
JS probe AL's politically motivated vendetta against Sircar, others
Faisal Rahim
Last week the parliamentary standing committee on probing the 'corruption and irregularities' of the Speaker of the immediate past parliament Barrister Zamir Uddin Sirkar, Deputy Speaker Akhtar Hamid Siddiqui and chief whip advocate Khondker Delwar Hossain recommended their expulsion from parliament.
The Jatiya Sangsad (JS) probe committee held them responsible on 14 counts and asked the authorities to force them repay a total of Tk 2, 38 crore saying they have misused the money illegally and liable to refund it...[ FULL STORY ]
BSF's shoot to kill policy targeting unarmed B'deshi 'for self-defence'
Sadeq Khan
We know that the meaning of self-defence was stretched to impossible proportions by America's global war on terror, justifying mass-destruction offensives against defenceless population centres on suspicion of harbouring Islamic militants. Now we are being told by the Indian BSF chief that a shoot-to-kill policy of the Indian border guards, targeting unarmed Bangladeshi farmers or cattle traders who do not cross the fence they guard but may stray or happen to be near it on the Indian edge of no man's land, is also self-defence...[ FULL STORY ]
BNP wants six months time for council session to ratify constitution
Special Correspondent
The opposition BNP on Thursday sought six months time, until Jan 25, 2010 to submit a final constitution for registration to the Election Commission.
The deadline for the submission of ratified constitution will expire on July 25. According to the Representation of the People Order (Amendment) Act 2009, the parties must submit their ratified constitutions six months inside the first sitting of the ninth parliament. The Jamaat-i-Islami has submitted a copy of their ratified constitution on time...[ FULL STORY ]
AL jolted by lawsuit against Gen. Moeen
Shahriar Noori
The high command of ruling Awami League (AL) seemed jolted by observing the people's mood as well as the general reactions in the rank and file at some powerful establishments following the filing of a defamation suite by former State Minister for Power Iqbal Hasan Mohmood Tuku against former Army Chief General Moeen U. Ahmed. Sources close to the AL high command told Holiday that the legal move has upset its party chief and some of her close associates when she was informed that the lower court had issued a summon with a rule on attachment of the property of Moeen.
The content of the case, according to the AL high command, was drafted so meticulously that it served the purpose of the victim concerned and his party, BNP, as a whole, the sources added.
It has made the accusation of corruption against NBP that helped the makers of 1/11 to violate the Constitution of the country and taking power by the military under a civilian disguise irrelevant, it said. ..[ FULL STORY ]
ADVISERS GALORE
Concentration of power at PMO
An Observer
Academic pedigree and varied work experience outside Bangladesh-dispensing Ford Foundation largesse from Delhi and promoting democratic institutions worldwide at Harvard Kennedy School's Ash Institute (where Ford Foundation is a major donor)-suggest Gowher Rizvi's appointment as PM Hasina's seventh adviser is based on credible credentials, since he'll handle foreign affairs.
Rizvi's the third Adviser with a PhD, the other two being Masihur Rahman and Toufique Chowdhury, while the PM has a dozen honorary doctorates. Academically this is the most qualified group to hold high office in Bangladesh...[ FULL STORY ]
U.S. desperate to contain China: Indian Ocean may be battle ground for Asian powers
Moinuddin Naser in New York
The shifting policy of the USA towards Asia, particularly the pressing need of containing gradual expansion of Chinese supremacy in the Indian Ocean, may intensify the US-India relations in the coming days. The India visit by the US Secretary of State (Hillary's visit begins from today Friday) Hillary Clinton is being predicted as prelude to India-centric Asian policy of Obama Administration.
Different knowledgeable sources inside the Capitol Hill expected that the current visit of Hillary Clinton will pave the way for President Obama to visit India very soon and Hillary's visit will accelerate the process. ..[ FULL STORY ]
GLIMPSES OF THE GREAT
Paul Volcker
K. Z. Islam
Paul Adolph Volcker (born September 5, 1927) is an American economist. He was the Chairman of the Federal Reserve under United States Presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan (from August 1979 to August 1987). He is currently chairman of the newly formed Economic Recovery Advisory Board under President Barack Obama.
Around 1979 US had lost control of its economy and made a complete mess of its international monitory responsibilities. In 1971 US had abandoned the gold standard which had fixed the US dollar at $35 per ounce of gold in 1932. The 1973 OPEC oil price hikes which helped trigger the runway inflation that marked the rest of the decade were a direct consequence of floating the dollar. Oil was mostly priced in dollar and the oil exporters did their banking in the US which meant that for every barrel exported their deposits in the US banks expanded. ..[ FULL STORY ]
COUNTRY'S FIRST WOMAN PHOTOJOURNALIST
Her passion for light and shade
Abdur Rahman Khan
Photography is not merely a picture but an art created with light, shade and composition, says Sayeeda Khanam, the country's first women photojournalist. She is now in her early 70s. She began her photography at the age of 12. It started from her love for the beautiful nature changing with the seasons and the living creatures, including the human beings.
"From my childhood, I was attracted to the beautiful landscape, flowers gardens and decorative plants surrounded by green trees with the chirping birds all around the place where I was born on 29th December 1937." It was in Pabna, a calm and quiet district town at that time, where she spent childhood in her maternal grandfather's house...[ FULL STORY ]
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