Thu 27 Oct 2005
It is always refreshing to read news about positive initiative taken by a Bangladeshi – as is the case with the last post, or success (in any field) achieved by a fellow countryman (I use that term generically, my intent is not to gender discriminate). To that end a recent article on The Daily Star caught my eye that I felt could be of interest to our readers on this blog. The link is attached below.
http://www.thedailystar.net/2005/10/06/d51006050250.htm
Wed 26 Oct 2005
It is always refreshing and inspiring to see that courageous investigative journalism is being rewarded. Here is to having many more journalists like Sumi Khan!
Bangladesh woman reporter feted
A Bangladeshi woman reporter has received a courage in journalism award from the International Women’s Media Foundation.
Sumi Khan, of the Samakal daily, is one of only a few women journalists in Chittagong and has received many threats over the nature of her work.
She has reported on politics, crime, Islamic fundamentalism and corruption. She was attacked and beaten in 2004.
Her editor, Ghulam Sarwar, said he was proud of her courage and dedication.
Khan was presented with her prize at the foundation’s 15th annual awards ceremony at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York on Tuesday night.
“People always ask me whether I’m afraid,” she said in her acceptance speech.
“No, I’m not. They are afraid. I believe my pen is mightier than all of their weapons. Long live courageous journalism.”
Encouragement
In April 2004, three assailants tried to abduct Khan from a rickshaw.
She was beaten and stabbed so severely she could not work for three months. The identity of her attackers remains unclear.
Khan joined Samakal three months ago from the popular Weekly 2000.
Mr Sarwar told the BBC: “In Bangladesh, women are lagging far behind the men, especially in the field of journalism. I think the award won by Ms Khan will encourage others to take up journalism.
“I think the entire journalist community should feel proud of her because of her courage and dedication to the profession.”
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/south_asia/4378660.stm
Mon 24 Oct 2005
A recent NYTimes article addressed the issue of educated people from poor contries migrating to seek opportunities in more affluent countries. It would be interesting to see if anyone has done a Bangladesh specific study on this.
Educated Workers Leaving Poor Nations, Survey Finds
By CELIA W. DUGGER
Poor countries across Africa, Central America and the Caribbean are losing sometimes staggering numbers of their college-educated workers to wealthy, industrialized democracies, according to a World Bank study made public today.
Its conclusions are based on a far-reaching survey of census and other data from the 30 countries that belong to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which counts most of the world’s richest nations among its members.
Researchers found, for example, that a quarter to almost half of the college-educated nationals of Ghana, Mozambique, Kenya, Uganda, Nicaragua and El Salvador live in member countries. For Haiti and Jamaica, the number rises to more than 80 percent.
In contrast, less than 5 percent of the skilled nationals of the great behemoths of the developing world - India, China, Indonesia and Brazil - live in a member country.
The World Bank’s study is part of a broader intellectual ferment about the role that migration plays in the development of poor countries. Scholarly research has tended to focus more on the impact of foreign aid, global trade and foreign investment, but there is a growing sense that the movement of people is also a major and little-understood factor.
The bank’s book published today, “International Migration, Remittances & the Brain Drain,” also presents an analysis of the impact of the money that migrants from Guatemala, Mexico and the Philippines send home, typically to their families.
This flow of money, known as remittances, helped reduce poverty in those three countries, household survey data showed. In Guatemala, rural families receiving the money spent more on education and less on consumption.
Thu 20 Oct 2005
Alas! Bangladesh, as an independent country showed no gratitude to this man!
“The original Concert for Bangladesh and associated merchandising raised $15m, which was distributed through Unicef, the United Nations’ Children’s Fund, and all the royalties for the new release will go to the same cause. It is this cause that has enticed the reluctant Mrs Harrison into the limelight. She looks slightly uncomfortable at being the focus of attention, though she tries hard to be gracious.”
The DVD can be purchased from here
Tue 18 Oct 2005
TI’s latest ranking do not bring good news from Bangladesh. But this statement from their Bangladesh head is a very good read
Dec 10, 2005: A new TI report.
Tue 18 Oct 2005
Click to watch: Bangladesh: Child Labour - The Other Side
Description: Is child labour a bad thing? In one of the first films on the ‘other side’ of the debate, award-winning journalist Ron McCullagh reveals that for many children “child labour” is the best hope they’ve got of escaping absolute poverty. Titu is fourteen and he’s worked for over half his life. He works in a hot and fume-filled battery factory in Dhaka, an unhealthy place for any worker let alone a child. Yet with his earnings Titu pays for a tutor, school books and part of the rent for his family home. He works, he tells us, because he wants to get a good job and make sure his children will have a better childhood than the one he is experiencing.
NOTE: This report won the “One World Broadcasting Trust / Unicef 1998 Advancement of Children’s Rights award”.
Wed 12 Oct 2005
Despite all the fear, Bangladesh is doing well in the RMG sector..
Bangladesh’s apparel exports were far from declining in the first quarter of the post-quota regime, although confronted with strong competition from China and India. Bangladesh managed to maintain its comparative advantage despite a growing tension on prices. Orders are on the rise and manufacturers are exploring new strategic alliances
Tue 11 Oct 2005
This is the first article I read that criticizes Younus a bit.
As the Grameen empire grows, so do complaints that Yunus is losing touch with poor borrowers. A former economics professor at Chittagong University, Yunus is now a globally recognized figure. In July, he flew to Washington to confer with the World Bank president, Paul Wolfowitz; in August, meetings took him to the Netherlands
Ignoring the suggestions of the millions of Bangladeshis who rely on Grameen and support Yunus’s other ventures may be Yunus’s greatest flaw, Huq says.
“Grameen Bank is centrally controlled by Muhammad Yunus,” he says. “No one has any voice in his policy-making process.”
…They are all started by me and funded separately,” says Yunus, seated in his office in the bank’s 21-story building in Dhaka, the capital. “You can call it a Professor Yunus empire but not a Grameen Bank empire.”
Mon 10 Oct 2005
Thu 6 Oct 2005
Rabbani, a 23-year-old student in business at North South University in Dhaka, arrived in the United States in September shortly after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and much of the neighboring Gulf Coast. (See related article.) He brought with him a box containing 22 winter jackets along with his personal luggage.
“It’s not winter yet, but I’m sure the Katrina victims will be needing them in winter,” Rabbani said.
Also another story of a Bangladeshi student who fights the legal battle and win in a landmark immigration law suit in Australia
Wed 5 Oct 2005
A good feature at Reuters
“On the one hand they (Jamaat) follow political democracy,” said Baidya. “On the other hand, under other names, they are strengthening their militant forces.”
Islamist parties are not popular enough to take power in Bangladesh through the ballot box, observers say. Nor are Islamists likely to get in by the back door, through a military coup, as they have in the past in countries like Pakistan.
But many commentators see plenty of reasons for concern at the way the religious right has used its position in government to expand its power like never before.
“What is happening here is a gradual transformation — although that is not to say it cannot be reversed,” said Samina Ahmed, South Asia director for the International Crisis Group.
“It is a long way from saying this (Jamaat) is a party that promotes terrorism, but intolerance — yes. Reducing the space for liberals — yes,” said Ahmed. “The more the space for liberal voices shrinks, the more extremists gain.”
Tue 4 Oct 2005
When the ETV was getting shut down, a lot of people wrote rule of law has to respected. That is a fair comment if we assume the law was fairly applied to the parties. I am not going to go into that today. But look what is happening today after ETV got the license back.
“Some influential and interested persons are pressing the petitioner to sell shares of the ETV to them,” he submitted. “Abdus Salam, also the managing director of the ETV, understands that he could be arrested and harassed at any time if shares are not sold to those people,” he added.
Can we ask Mr. Shafiq Rehman to do a investigative piece on this now, like he did before?
Mon 3 Oct 2005
What one movie can do to change a social perception can not be done in many lectures and statements…such is power of media. Hope a lot more young directors like Lavlu come ahead with entertaining film with a social message like MBB.
Sun 2 Oct 2005
Two Reactions about the letter to Rice from the congressmen..
First one from Dr. Fakhruddin
Second one is the counter response from Mozammel Khan.
What’s your opinion?