TODAY'S LINKS* Israeli-Iranian summit underway.* Iran blocks BBC's Persian website.* Politics of Terrorism.* Terror Network Visualization: an interactive flash visualiztion of known terrorist links.* Online Ovidhan: Free English 2 Bangla and English 2 English dictionary.* One extra email address per yahoo account for free!* 'Mail Big File' is a free tool for transferring large files up to 1GB, without clogging up your ema...
January 29, 2006
HOOKAH BARBangladeshi brothers make Shisha popular among the youths in Northern Virginia, USA. (Via Unheard Voices)The Shisha'ites also have a group blog in MySpace.com where 135 members log on regularly to post pictures and experiences from the nightlife at the lounge. This is just short of making a cult.A point to be noted (for future entrepreneurship) by Shapp...
January 25, 2006
DESICRITICS.ORGFinally Desicritics.org is scheduled to be launched on the 26th of January, 2006. It will be an online magazine, an interactive community in which writers and readers from around the globe will talk about stories, issues, and products with a South Asia Focus. It is being set up by the people behind Blogcritics.org, especially Aaman Lamba. The authors (so far 80 including me) will form a powerful online platform for South Asia creating news, opinions, and reviews with a global South Asian flavor.Don't forget to bookmark ...
DHAKA BLOGGERS MEETWe are trying to arrange the first ever Bangladeshi blogger meet in Dhaka. Me and Rifat have been discussing this since last November. The date is now finalized, i.e. 4th of February, 2006 Saturday. The main idea is to get to know each other well and discuss about blogs and blogging.Any active Bangladeshi blogger can participate. We would like to keep this meet in a close informal circle so we will not encourage non-bloggers in the meet. The venue will be a restaurant in Banani, which will be informed via mail before the meet....
January 24, 2006
INDO-BANGLADESH DIALOGUE OF YOUNG LEADERSIn a three day long event in Dhaka organized by the Bangladesh Enterprise Institute the young leaders of India & Bangladesh called for strong political will to resolve the outstanding issues. Farooq Sobhan, president of the enterprise institute and the former foreign secretary of Bangladesh, emphasized on fresh ideas instead of being obsessed with old debates and proposed more interactions between the people of seven sisters and Bangladesh, including Dhaka's direct flight with Guwahati, Assam, and bus...
BANGLADESH -WHY SHOULD INVESTORS CARE?Bangladesh has been a land of confusion to many. Just as there are much potential to make this democratic country overcome many challenges like the overpopulation, poverty and extremism and go forward, there are many setbacks like political instability and corruption. In October, Berlin-based research organization Transparency International declared Bangladesh to be the most corrupt nation on Earth, for the fifth time. Then last month Goldman Sachs Group Inc. included it in a list of 11 developing countries...
MADRASSA REFORMSLast year I wrote in detail about how Madrassa students in Bangladesh are being exploited. At least four million poor children (many of them are orphans) are studying in more than 50,000 of these religious schools across Bangladesh. Lack of standard curriculum and infrastructure and political motivations are making the madrassa students incapable of taking the challenges of the real world. If they are not provided with hope of getting the equal opportunity like the students of other standards of educations, they can easily be turned...
January 23, 2006
ABDUR RAHMAN HELD IN INDIA?The New Age and Amar Desh newspapers reported today, citing intelligence sources (hat tip Diganta): "The fugitive chief of the terrorist organization Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), Shaikh Abdur Rahman, was reportedly arrested by the Indian police from a hideout at Barasat, 24 Parganas of West Bengal on Sunday." But the home ministry said that they are yet to be informed officially by India. The same news have been picked up by the international media. But so far no further updates are available. This will be a...
January 22, 2006
HOW COLD WAS IT?I am sure many international readers have picked the news that hundreds were killed in the recent cold wave in Bangladesh. Have they wondered actually how cold was it and why so many people died?Dutch expat Herma clears some of the misconceptions:A cold wave has hit Bangladesh. I can see how you raise your eyebrows. "Cold, what do you mean? Ten degrees? That is a normal summer night in our country!"In Bangladesh however, this is a little different. As none of the houses have a heating, when it is ten degrees, it is ten degrees everywhere....
INDIAN BENGALI LANGUAGE TV EYING BANGLADESHI MEDIA MARKETAccording to this news Indian TV channels are eyeing the Rs 2.5 billion Bangladesh television market. Broadcast Worldwide, owner of the Bengali channels 'Tara News' and 'Tara Muzik' is planning to set up an ad sales office in the Bangladesh capital Dhaka. Their spokesman said: "We have already registered ourselves in Dhaka. The permission to open a bank account in the country has also been obtained. Presently, we are awaiting the government's permission to remit revenue back to India." Because...
TODAY'S LINKS* The feed factory from BBC.* Researchers recommend Wikis for government information.* Bangladesh in the eyes of the world.* Sunil Gavaskar's cricket podcast.* Devadasi - are they illegal?* Global fusion: Creating delicious food one meal at the time!* Where do ships go to die? * How to read blogs more efficiently.* The Saudi sense of hum...
January 16, 2006
MORAL POLICING IN BANGLADESH?Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) was set up with a mission to facilitate affordable telecommunication services in Bangladesh. In recent times intense competition among the cellular phone providers has catalyzed the increase in teledensity of Bangladesh. The tariffs are also coming down and in a bid to manage unutilized network in off-peak hours, many providers have been offering bonus like free call within own network the whole night. This has certainly created a craze among the youths with...
January 15, 2006
January 13, 2006
HAJJ STAMPEDE 2006When you shift the responsibility to others everytime, these things are going to repeat again and again. A couple of years ago it was Gods will, this year the blame is on the unruly pilgrims. * In 2004 251 people died.* In 2006 at least 345 people died.* 2007 -??(In graphics: Hajj stampede - BBC)Sohel is outraged:"Cast the dead, stone the poor and the 'devil, they won't be talking back to you. How convenient!And let's not forget that interesting 'fatwa' given by strict Saudi Wahabist, stone the 'devil' in mid-day, rush to Al-Jamarat...
January 12, 2006
GHAT - NEW TELECENTER MODEL FROM BANGLADESHSome donor agencies in Bangladesh have come up with an innovative project called GHAT (Global House for Advance Technology) to promote ICT in rural Bangladesh. From Telecenter.org (Via Jean-Luc Raymond):"This centers named GHAT (where people gather for transportation, mainly boat), and offering bundle of services. As the focus on business, we tried to concentrate to develop location & sector (business) specific contents in local language. At the same time some common services required by businesses....
January 09, 2006
EID-UL-AZHA GREETINGS I wish all the readers a happy Eid-ul Azha. For Muslims all over the world, the celebration is mainly slaughtering sacrificial animals on this day after the Eid prayer. The sacrifice of animals is symbolic. Every able Muslim should sacrifice atleast a small portion of their wealth keeping in view the symbolism in order to bridge the wide gap between the haves and havenots. As it is stated in Quran:"It is not your meat nor their...
BAD WEATHER OR SECURITY THREAT?Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia's scheduled visit to Satkhira was cancelled as the government said the chopper carrying her could not land because of fog. However rumours of a planned bomb attack on her meeting venue were widely circulated in Satkhira (The Daily Star). Two hours before the scheduled meeting of the PM, police radided the house of Jamaat-e-Islami Rokan Moulana Yunus Ali and found two grenades. They also arrested Yunus' son Abdullah Al Mamun, 21, who is an activist of Islami Chhatra Shibir, student...
January 08, 2006
FROM THE BANGLADESH BLOGOSPHERE(Cross-posted in the 'Global Voices Online')Shuvo Nobobarsho (Happy New Year) everyone. Let us take a look into what the Bangladeshi blogs are saying lately.1) Tourism: Rahman tells us what Sundarban, the largest mangrove forest of the World has to offer to the tourists.Herma talks about the beauty of the Bandarbans and how her family enjoys it. Here are some Photos of Bandarbans and her impressions about Bangladesh.2) Awards: ‘Unheard Voices’ reports that Dr Nazia Khanum, an expatriate Bangladeshi, has been appointed...
January 06, 2006
PILGRIMAGE, MISSING THE WHOLE POINTMezba started this argument and I am taking it further. The issue is "Hajj (the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca) is a responsibility to be performed ONCE in a lifetime. So why are many going to Mecca multiple times?" Saudi Arabia is facing the hard task of managing the growing number of Muslim pilgrimage each year (more than one million this year out of which more than 50,000 are Bangladeshis) and you can already see the limitations and danger ahead. The Saudi government has recently imposed a restriction on the locals...
THE WORLD GONE INSANEYesterday was another sad day. I was watching the TV footage of the carnage the suicide bombers have left in Iraq. Blasts killed at least 120 people in two central Iraqi cities (BBC). I don't know about others, but these news make me vomit and keep me in a painful state. Muslims killing Muslims, little dead child in the lap of wailing mother, little children with bloody faces, body bags piling up. Oh God, how can you be cruel?These Lunatics are everywhere, killing innocent people, in Bangalore, Jordan, or Indonesia.The world...
January 05, 2006
January 04, 2006
MICROSOFT'S UGLY FACERebecca MacKinnon reports: "On New Years Eve, MSN Spaces took down a Chinese popular blog written by Zhao Jing, aka Michael Anti, journalistic bloggers. His blog was taken down by MSN people. Not blocked by the Chinese government. His old blog at the U.S.-hosted Blog-city is believed to have caused the Chinese authorities to block all Blog-city blogs. In the final days of December, Anti became a vocal supporter of journalists...
IS THERE A COMPULSION IN RELIGION?Bahraini blogger Mahmood is angry over the parliament's impending ruling that Shops, restaurants, coffee houses, garages and other workshops could be forced by law to close for two hours for Friday prayers. He asks: "Can anyone suggest a country I might consider emigrating to that will allow me just to live my life without anyone imposing their interpretation of whatever religion on me and my family? A country that is tolerant that might appreciate its citizens and protect their freedoms, rather than one whose...
January 03, 2006
BANGLADESH CELLPHONE GROWTHAlthough Bangladesh economy was slowed by the increase of terrorist attacks, Telecom sector is the one field Bangladesh could achieve high growth in 2005. The number of mobile phone users in Bangladesh grew by 144 per cent in 2005, to 9.4 million in December from 3.85 million in 2004 (source). Five operators (GrameenPhone, AKTEL, Banglalink, Citycell and the government owned Teletalk) are competing neck-a-neck with increasing coverage and down-to-earth prices (USD$4 a SIM card). The die-hard competition started when Egyptian...
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