Wishing everyone a happy Eid wherever you are. Amidst the festivity my thoughts are with these people.Image Credit: Radiant ...
September 30, 2008
September 29, 2008
HUJI starts politics in Bangladesh under a new name
Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI) of The Islamic Holy War Movement was formed in 1984 by Fazalur Rehman Khalil and Qari Saifullah Akhtar, as the first Pakistan-based jihadist outfit, during the Soviet-Afghan War. The Harkat-ul-Jihad-al Islami Bangladesh (HuJI-B) was established in 1992, reportedly with assistance from Osama bin Laden’s International Islamic Front (IIF). On April 30, 1992, several of the HuJI-B leaders addressed a press conference at the Jatiya Press Club in capital Dhaka and demanded that Bangladesh be converted into an Islamic...
Another one bites the dust
More US bank woes from Gateway Pundit: "Washington Mutual Bondholders Were Not Paid-- Consequences Could Be Devastating... Warnings of Monday Cras...
Quote of the day
"Today, if we are prepared, we could buy some of those falling banks in the United States, no problem, it's possible. Don't ignore them (the poor) ... we lend over a billion dollars a year....We have to get out of the mindset that the rich will do the business and the poor will have the charity."- Dr. Muhammad Yunus at former U.S. President Bill Clinton's philanthropic summit, the Clinton Global Initiative.Reuters: Unlike Wall Street, which is reeling from a flood of loans that may never be paid back, Grameen bank has a recovery rate of more than...
September 28, 2008
Firefox in Bangla
Image credit: EkusheyFirefox has introduced its updated Bangla localized version (in Beta). Download it from he...
September 27, 2008
Perilous wonder
I found an English translation of one of my favorite Bangla poems: A DAY EIGHT YEARS AGO -Jibananda DasIt was heardThey took him to the morgue.Last night in the February darkWhen the crescent moon, five days toward full, had setHe'd had the urge to die.A wife had lain beside him-a child, too.There had been love, hope, in the moonlight.Then what ghost did he see? why was his sleep disturbed?Or maybe he hadn't slept for days. Now, Iying in the morgue, hesleeps.He had sought this sleep perhaps.Like a plague rat, maw smeared with frothy blood, neck...
September 26, 2008
Google Map maker launched for Bangladesh
Google Lat Long Blog reports that Google Map Maker has been launched in Bangladesh and in seventeen more countries. Google Map Maker is a new service, provided by Google, designed to expand the breadth of the service currently offered by Google Maps. In some countries mapping data is unavailable, and so to combat this problem Google has decided to open up Google Maps to a collaborative community effort in certain territories.Using the find or browse...
September 25, 2008
Keeping Jalladkhana buried or alive
So what should a nation do? Purge the memory of the genocide it experienced or keep the ghosts alive?Time Magazine reports:Bangladesh sits atop an alluvial plain, so those bent on genocide needed only to dump bodies in rivers or, as at the Jalladkhana, down the wells and conduits of local water-pumping stations, where corpses were literally flushed away into the sea. "These are crimes so horrible that even God wouldn't forgive you," says K.M. Safiullah,...
The infamous Dadagiri slap incident
I didn't know reality TV shows can be that repulsive. Eeew!!!!No wonder 'Dadagiri' the Indian reality TV show has earned the fame of being TV's meanest game show maikng this video a world h...
September 24, 2008
Remittance rule in Bangladesh relaxed
For decades, in a bid to stop foreign currency flow outside Bangladesh, there was a bureaucratic rule that to remit money to a foreign country, even for paying fees or supporting children studying in a foreign land, a permission from the central Bank was required. And you might imagine, that involves lot of bureaucratic procedures, speed money which was not worth for small transactions. It may be relevant here to mention here that only the extreme wealthy people can afford an international credit card. So paying online was not also possible. At...
September 23, 2008
Almost no improvement
The Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI) report-2008 has been published today and Bangladesh slipped down to the 10th position from below with a score of 2.1. Last year, Bangladesh was in the 7th position with a score of 2. So there is no major change in the score and position although the caretaker (interim) government had taken measures against corruption including establishing charges against the most corrupt politicians. Many politicians arrested (with faulty procedures) on charges of corruptions are now getting...
State of the Blogosphere 2008
After two years Technorati (which tracks Blogosphere) has published a new report titled the State of the Blogosphere in 2008. Some of the key findings: Universal McCann (March 2008):184 million WW have started a blog (26.4% of them US) 346 million WW read blogs (60.3 of them US) 77% of active Internet users read blogsThe lines between what is a blog and what is a mainstream media site become less clear. Larger blogs are taking on more characteristics...
September 22, 2008
Plights of migrant Bangladeshis
Al Jazeera's reporter Tony Birtley exposes that Bangladeshi migrant workers are subject to some highly organized scams throughout Asia. Watch the video (via Singabloodypore) where some of them are shown kept in cages in Singapore: I was appalled to see how the owners behaved with Tony Birtly when he asked whether they had legal papers.Meanwhile Shafiur reports that instead of looking at the miseries of the migrant workers the Bangladeshi Government is thinking of inflicting a bond of “Tk. 1 million and fixed deposit receipt of Tk. 100,000" upon...
Today's links
International Religious Freedom Report 2008 on Bangladesh by US State DepertmentHizbut-Tahrir Bangladesh: Islamist Movement under Terror Scanner JMB threatens to bomb Rajshahi police stationsBangladesh to have information lawBangladesh’s undernourished rise by 7.3 mnEarthquake Hits Dhaka Bangladesh on 20 September 2008 at 17:53:39 Hour BDTBangladesh bans Chinese powdered milk amid health pa...
September 21, 2008
Bangladesh: Elections in December
At last the date of election was declared ending uncertainties as to when the postponed general election of Bangladesh would be held. The Chief Adviser of Caretaker government Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed said a general election would be held on December 18. An Ordinary citizen has more.The Upazilla polls would be held on December 24 and 28 not prior to the general elections asthe government wanted. This is in a way bowing to the demands of the political parties.The political parties hailed the decision.Now there should be no barriers to a free and fair...
Merits of Social Media
"Social Media makes (one) intelligent" - Oliver Nitz of Vienna 'Web Innovation Institu...
Pakistan bleeds again
Read my latest round up of the Pakistani blogs in Global Voices summarizing reactions to the suicide truck bomb explosion in front of Hotel Marriott in Islamabad which claimed more than 60 lives including Czech Ambassador to Pakistan Ivo Zdar...
September 19, 2008
Quote of the day
While the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has slapped a 10-year-ban on players who joined the Indian Cricket League (ICL), Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has done the reverse.- CricketN...
September 18, 2008
Today's links
Bangladesh anti-graft drive crumbling.Two ladies: Seeds of their discord?Bangladesh looks to settle Maritime boundary dispute.DU teacher among 11 Hijbut Tahrir activists held for militant ties.Rebel Bangladeshi cricketers banned for 10 years.Bangladesh launches 100-day job scheme for po...
September 17, 2008
Poisoned powder milk in China – why Bangladesh needs to worry
[First published in E-Bangladesh]The world came to know about the horror only a couple of days ago that the powdered milk products produced by the Sanlu Group in China were contaminated by melamine after hundreds of Chinese babies were hospitalized for having kidney stones and some had kidney failures. On 11th of September Sanlu first defended that “their milk powder has no problem” then announced a recall of its products. Global Voices reports:“By...
Quote of the day
"I am not here just to have the team win a game or two. I am trying to develop this squad and the future of Bangladesh cricket to a point where they can compete regularly against the top-ranked teams. This will take time as the players have so many lessons to learn and skills to develop." - Bangladesh coach Jamie Sidd...
Directory of Bangladeshi Blogs
A cool new Bangladeshi Blog Directory was launched recently by Tanim. Check it out (click the image):...
September 16, 2008
Testing time for Bangladesh cricket
"Playing for money or the pride of the country which comes first?" this is always a tricky question. Bangladesh's cricket is facing a deep crisis after 13 of its national players was lured by the Indian Cricket League (ICL). Playing in the ICL ensues an automatic ban from all forms of official cricket. But they will be able to earn up to US$200,000 from a three-year contract, which is a lot of money in Bangladesh's context. According to Reuters this amount is five times more than a top Bangladeshi player's annual central contract, with which they...
September 15, 2008
Bielefeld-Bonn-Cologne
I was traveling the last four days. There is a lot to tell but time is the enemy. So let pictures speak:Sparrenburg Castle, BielefeldHermannsdenkmal in the Teutoburg Forest near Detmold The Externsteine in the Teutoburg Forest near Detmold View of a castle during a boat ride on the Rhine river.The famous Federal Guest House on Petersberg mountain (One of the seven mountains in Bonn).Kölner Dom...
September 09, 2008
September 07, 2008
Young and audacious
Do you remember what remarkable thing you did when you were 21? The website of elite security forces of Bangladesh -Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) was hacked by a 21 year old was accessed on last Friday and the website displayed: 'Hacked by Shahee_Mirza'. After defacing the site the proud hacker claimed:The government does not take any step for ICT development but passed a law about anti-cyber crime. You do not know what the cyber security is or how...
September 05, 2008
Waterlogged lifestyle
This year heavy rains have brought floods again in Bangladesh. According to today's news 25 percent of Bangladesh's landmass is flooded. I was watching a Bangladeshi channel where it was showing that a damn is protecting a small town. The area outside the damn is submerged in waist high water. People are struggling to lead their lives. They don't have their personal boats, so its hard to commute. Children cannot go to school which is also submerged. Students cannot go to the college inside the city because the bus has stopped commuting. The District...
Flashmob Iftar
If you don't know what a flashmob is, its a large group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform an unusual action for a brief time, then quickly disperse. The word is spread via social networking sites, including Facebook, Myspace, Wikipedia, private blogs, public forums, and personal websites. (Wikipedia)All around the world this trend has grown in recent years and even in Pakistan it was used to protest during the state of emergency and the protesters disappeared before the police could reach to them. Fugstar is reporting that...
September 03, 2008
The sewers of gold
The price of gold rose to $1,000 an ounce and its more than a luxury in places like Bangladesh where gold used to be something worn by people as a symbol of prosperity, security, wealth. There is a street called Tanti Bazaar in old Dhaka which houses a range of goldsmiths. While producing jewelery they produce gold dusts that end up in the sewerage drains of the street. This has created a new job for some people, to pan for gold in the sewerage drains. BBC has detai...
Google Chrome
The Google chrome is here and I am testing it. Take a look at the new features.Here is a detailed review by Geeks are Sexy and a verdict:"What Chrome provides is more of the same paradigm, but more efficient and arguably more user-friendly."(Image credit Geeks Are Sexy: Chrome could be roughly 2 to 20 times faster than Firefox or Safari)The Yahoo review sums up the performances:While Chrome's performance is a little better than that of Firefox, in...
September 02, 2008
The banking industry vs. the poor
Only 13% of Bangladeshis have access to traditional banking accounts (19 million accounts). The rise of Dr. Muhammad Yunus's Nobel prize winning microcredit model Grameen Bank provides banking facilities with its 2100 branches spread in Bangladesh to 7.34 million people (as of October 2007, 97% of those are women). There are also many other microcredit institutions trying to bridge the gaps with their financial services but the purpose of those are purely self sustaining and ignore the wider social agenda of the Grameen Bank model.Micro Capital...
Georgian enclaves are not Bangladesh!
In Pravda.ru Babu G. Ranganathan draws an analogy of South Ossetia and Abkhazia's independence from Georgia as declared by Russia with the involvement of India in the creation of Bangladesh in 1971. I wish things were as simple as that. The resentments started in 1952 when Bengalis wanted to protect their mother tongue. Bangladesh was wanting autonomy since long. We had a great leader who was going to be Pakistan's head of government according to the election results but was denied. Sheikh Mujib almost declared the independence (on the 7th of March,...
Today's Links
*Local government practice in Bangladesh: A perspective* Bangladesh’s diplomat rebuts Selig Harrison on anti-terror efforts* Bangladesh may become middle income country in 17 years: UN* Steaming into Bangladesh.* Momtaz, the traveling songbird of Bangladesh.* No country for gentlemen and gentlewom...
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