Banner Advertiser

Monday, January 25, 2010

[ALOCHONA] Private banks in land business



Private banks in land business
 
 
 
 


__._,_.___


[Disclaimer: ALOCHONA Management is not liable for information contained in this message. The author takes full responsibility.]
To unsubscribe/subscribe, send request to alochona-owner@egroups.com




Your email settings: Individual Email|Traditional
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully Featured
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe

__,_._,___

[ALOCHONA] Big debacle in NGO sector



Big debacle in NGO sector
 

A turmoil is going on in the NGO sector where promising senior executives and active organisers are being subjected to transfer, dismissal or forced retirement.A number of victims told this reporter that the NGO bosses who have been reigning over the NGO affairs for long have opted for such actions fearing a challenge from within the organisations against their prolonged and permanent leadership. The situation was exposed with the capture of Proshika office by the workers and counter-action by the Proshika chief Quazi Faruque.

Big bosses do not want a second man who can be a competitor for leadership. Rather they are setting up their family members and relatives in important posts. Sources said, Grameen Bank Managing Director Dr Muhammed Yunus recently sent his deputy Dipal Chandra Barua into forced retirement. Dipal Barua was one of the founders of Grameen Bank.

Many other senior officials of the micro-credit institution have also been removed in recent times. Its founder staff and senior members are passing there time in panic in the wake of continuous retrenchments and transfers, sources said.

A similar situation is also going on in the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) where most of the senior staff have already been removed or going to be replaced by the family members and relatives of its top man, sources added.

Sources said, family members of Fazle Hasan Abed are already holding the key posts of BRAC while some of its subsidiaries are under the control of his wife, daughter, son, daughter-in-law or other close relatives.The BRAC chief recently set his son Sameron Abed as programme manager of the NGO giant. Pushpita Alam, who is engaged to Sameron Abed, has been appointed in a senior position in the communication department of BRAC and she is going to be promoted to a senior position very soon, sources said.

Imtiaz Mohiuddin, son of Kaniz Fatema, a close relation of Abed has been appointed to the key post of the director for Microfinance - transferring Sabbir Ahmed Chowdhury, a key organiser of BRAC. Programme Co-ordinator Shamsuzzaman Mia, who was also a founder organiser of BRAC, has been sent into forced retirement.

Programme Co-ordinator Habibur Rahman, programme managers Paresh Mandal and Hamiduzzaman, senior regional managers Syed Rafiqul Islam, Abdul Khaleq, regional manager Ashraful Islam have been sent to forced retirement very recently.Sources pointed out that Fazle Hasan Abed's third wife and Sarwar Abed and daughter Tamara Abed were made directors of BRAC and are handling key responsibilities of its important subsidiary institutions.

Boards of Directors of most of the NGOs in Bangladesh are dominated by the family members and relatives of the initiators of the respective organisations.
The expulsion of Quazi Faruque from Proshika has prompted the NGO lords to consolidate their institution with their trusted persons, sources said.

Flouting existing law, the micro-credit institutes, foreign funded and also nationally financed NGOs are being operated as family business in the name of charities. Many influential persons in the society are also manoeuvring these institutions in the name of human rights organisations.

http://nation.ittefaq.com/issues/2010/01/26/news0173.htm


__._,_.___


[Disclaimer: ALOCHONA Management is not liable for information contained in this message. The author takes full responsibility.]
To unsubscribe/subscribe, send request to alochona-owner@egroups.com




Your email settings: Individual Email|Traditional
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully Featured
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe

__,_._,___

[ALOCHONA] Managing Energy Crisis in Bangladesh



Managing Energy Crisis in Bangladesh

By Sayed Javed Ahmad


Those of us who are living in Bangladesh are victims of energy crisis. It is unfortunate that as a nation we have not been able to resolve this problem even after thirty eight years of our independence. Governments come and go and this issue remains a struggling issue.

By 'energy crisis' we are mainly referring to natural gas and electric power shortages. In this discussion we would try to reflect on some possible solutions that might work for us.

Bangladesh is one of those countries that still allow natural gas to be used at homes for cooking un-metered on a flat rate. In most countries cooking at home is done on electric stoves. Bangladesh is also one such country that allow natural gas to propel car engines. Although this is an economical fuel alternative for cars, but we are using up huge natural gas resources everyday in cooking and commuting.

On the other hand, we do not have enough electric power supply on our national grids. As a result, this shortage not only hampers our comfort at home, but also takes a toll on our economy when the industrial machines are on rest directly effecting out national gross national product (GNP) and gross domestic product (GDP).

In order to keep our industries going we are taking up extra cost in investment on installation of back power supply equipments like the instant power supply (IPS), uninterrupted power supply (UPS) and Generators, etc. This extra investment in our power infrastructure eventually adds up to our production costs through capital and maintenance costs. Luckily, due to cheap labor these extra costs are covered in our markups reducing our profits significantly. But we may not enjoy this 'cheap labor' advantage for long as the inflation pressure is causing the wages to go up significantly as well every year. In experience we have seen that all the nations that started out as a source of cheap labors are no longer cheap. Their standard of living has gone up.

It is primarily government's responsibility to ensure uninterrupted power supply in our national grids. But since our government is unable to meet the demands they are welcoming the private enterprises to come in to establish private power generating enterprises, which is a good move. But unfortunately, due to too much of control and restrictions the interested entrepreneurs in this sector are not been able to perform. Many of us think that it would be better if the government opens the door to the entrepreneurs to establish power factories without any regulations whatsoever! However, the basis of the generation of power should be tackled properly. We do not want to burn out or use up our natural resources like the natural gas, coal or timber to generate electric power. Instead, the entrepreneurs should look into the possibility of small regional based hydro power projects to meet the demands as well as explore other power related technological breakthrough like wind and solar power.

The government could design and develop a program to engage the private enterprises to join the power club by dividing the national power needing areas into regions based on geographic conditions. For instance, a hydro power station that is capable of producing power from water currents and waves on river or sea surfaces (or from underwater currents) could be established in a region where a river is flowing. In high altitude areas wind power stations could be established. And in other region solar power could be a viable option. In bordering districts, we could consider requesting our neighboring countries (India, China and Myanmar) to help us out by selling us some units of their power engine if they are in a position to spare. This segmentation strategy would reduce total dependence on foreign power supply or even on our main national power supply. This is basically 'grow as you need' based strategy that could work wonders for us if applied.

On some simple conditions, like - the project should be environment friendly, the cost of production should be affordable by the subscribers in the region, must be open to local employment, etc could be there so that no one is afraid to get into a deal. Utility companies are normally profitable and stable; therefore many entrepreneurs would take interest in this business.

By separating the main power supply into commercial and residential at source, the total distribution of power could be regulated ensuring continuous and uninterrupted power supply to the dependent industries. Stealing and looting of power should also be addressed and stopped completely by imposing huge penalties and punishments if caught.

It is better to stay in dark at homes, not watch TV and go to bed early than shutting down our industries that generates revenues for all of us through profits, wages and taxes. It is better that we convert our cars into electric cars and not use natural gas and petroleum fuels polluting our environment. It is even better if we leave our cars at home and use public or company transports reducing traffic jams in our over crowded streets.

Ensuring uninterrupted electric power supply would result in following benefits:

1. We could stop using natural gas for cooking at home and use electric ovens and stoves instead.

2. We could recharge our electric cars 24/7 with much cheaper cost compared to gas and fuel.

3. We could use the remaining gas reserve in electricity production contributing to our national grid.

4. We could reduce our dependence on oil imports and free up our foreign currency reserves for other developmental projects like building roads and highways for better supply chain management (SCM).

Exploration of coal may not be suitable for Bangladesh as it carries some environmental and ecological risks like fracture of land surfaces due to underground hollow, etc. So it is better to leave them underground as they are. Besides, we do not have much coal reserves anyways! If we ever get lucky to explore our own oil reserves then the fuel coming from there could entirely go to our power productions. Because it the 'power' that we really need, which is the driving force no matter how it is transformed.

Sayed Javed Ahmad
E Mail : javedahmad@yahoo.com
Chief Operating Officer
Central Depository Bangladesh Limited
www.cdbl.com.bd


__._,_.___


[Disclaimer: ALOCHONA Management is not liable for information contained in this message. The author takes full responsibility.]
To unsubscribe/subscribe, send request to alochona-owner@egroups.com




Your email settings: Individual Email|Traditional
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully Featured
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe

__,_._,___

[ALOCHONA] Bangladesh is in great danger



Bangladesh is in great danger
 
Taslima
 
Bangladesh is in great danger with it's entanglement with impoverished, unstable India under Begum Hasina Wajed's naive BAKSALite premiership. Sadly, we must never forget the last premier Begum Khalida Zia did great damage to the nation when someone in her government, or more likely her son, attempted to sabotage Bangladesh's military, economic and diplomatic relationship with China by foolishly trying to give renegade Chinese province of Taiwan diplomatic recognition. It did incalculable damage to Bangladesh reputation internationally and damaged our security. China relationship Bangladesh cultivated very painfully and patiently over several decades, and was undone in a few weeks by an enemy within. China relationship is largely dead thanks to the dirty treacherous work of Begum Khalida Zia, the great patriot!
 
Today we have no friends or allies in Asia, only a dirty serpent called India trying to strangle us. The Americans, powerful global superpower Israel and Europe see India as a useful tool to make trouble for the Muslim world (Central Asia, Middle East, Bangladesh, Indonesia, etc..) and poke at Confucian world (China, Japan, Korea..). The funny thing is Europe and America regard India as the fetid swamp of Asia (bit like the way they regard sub Sahara Africa).
 
Rather than attacking the religions of the vast impoverished low caste Hindu masses of India, we should concentrate on more pressing issues. It is unjust and even a crime to hate faith of other peoples.We should be more constructive: we should write, phone, email, visit the Awami League politicians with warnings about the unstable, impoverished serpent India. And at the same time we should encourage the our families to stop all Indian TV programmes and never buy Indian ready-made products or services... and campaign to boycott India internationally.
 
If we feel strongly about nasty India we should do something constructive. In international campaigns we need to mention India's actions, terrorism, border killings, encroachments of Bangladesh territories like South Talpatty island, diversion of common rivers, including Farraka and Tipaimukh, smuggling of illegal drugs, and international propaganda against Bangladesh. There are many compelling reasons why India should become a pariah state: it's treatment of its own citizens: the mass violence against Assamese, Tripuras, Sikhs, Naga, the 200 million Untouchables, the Buddhists, Christians, 200 million Muslims, 100 million tribal peoples, 500 million low caste  Sudra Hindus; the illegal occupation of Sikkim; the Hindu fundamentalist deep insidious infiltration of Indian Army, Civil Service, Judiciary and Education.
 
The world needs to know that India is a desperately poor, very volatile, and unjust nation. India gave Buddhist majority Sri Lanka a nasty civil war in which it armed, funded and trained the Hindu Tamil terrorists. Hindu majority Nepal faces constant war and violence and instability at the Indian manipulators. The whole of South Asia is endangered by 80 odd internal civil wars inside India which the world keeps silent about....
 


__._,_.___


[Disclaimer: ALOCHONA Management is not liable for information contained in this message. The author takes full responsibility.]
To unsubscribe/subscribe, send request to alochona-owner@egroups.com




Your email settings: Individual Email|Traditional
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully Featured
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe

__,_._,___

RE: [ALOCHONA] Imposing Shackles on Bangladesh and Dozens of Bangladesh’s concerns



   I may be fooled once that Ayi Bahar Mela writes in English language, but upon a second look I realize that I was not such a fool to begin with when a sneaky suspicion told me that 'this was gobbledygook'.
 
            Any way, I was reminded of a quote by a member of ALOCHONA, S. Turkman, who was a Pakistani before settling in the USA:
 

People spreading hate against India and love of Pakistan work for ISI and they are Enemies of Bangladesh, not friends.  

        We should be forced to break out singing "hawoa me uRta jaye, mera lal dupatta mal mal ka, ho ji, ho ji....." if we have any more of Ayi Bahar Mela.
 
      Farida Majid

To: dhakamails@yahoogroups.com
From: bd_mailer@yahoo.com
Date: Fri, 8 Jan 2010 20:40:46 -0800
Subject: [ALOCHONA] Imposing Shackles on Bangladesh and Dozens of Bangladesh's concerns

 

 

Hasina : Normalizing the Unthinkable: Imposing Shackles on Bangladesh and Dozens of Bangladesh's concerns

 

"Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice shame on me."

 

Abid Bahar

 

"Normalizing the unthinkable," is the process whereby ugly, degrading, murderous, and unspeakable acts become routine and are accepted as "the way things are done.' There is usually a division of labor in doing and rationalizing the unthinkable.""Normalization of the unthinkable comes easily when money, status, power, and jobs are at stake."(1)

 

I was nauseated seeing the mutiliated bodies of our Bangladesh army officials and some of their families and even surprised seeing the mainstream dailies like the daily Star congratulating Hasina for her sucessful handling of the event.  There were more surprises we see everyday in the  increased number of extrajudicial killings, arrest torture or intimidation of the newsman and surprisingly there were no protest from the opposition party BNP leadership against these unthinkable acts by the Hasina government that came to power with a landslide victory in January 2007 alledgely with a helping hand from the military backed CTG government.

 

In addition, to the above more shocking of all is Hasina helping India imposing shackles on Bangadesh in many areas, building dams, getting transit in exchange of nothing. In this, she is swallowing one after another of the Indian bitter pills agenda with herself and her partymen's praise of the Indian government's so-called help and shamelessly celebrating her so-called success at home and abroad as if everything is normal while her countryman fuming in disgust.. AL's normalization of the unthinkable is demonstrated in giving India transit through Bangladesh without having a national referendum on this vital issue. Instead of showing concern of the effect of Thista, Farakka and now the Tipaimukh dan, the AL government ministers and  the carefully controlled newsmedia praise the AL government.continued sucess. This tells us of the new process of Al's nomalization of the unthinkable and its rationalization by the secretive AL advisory board through spending money, power, and jobs.

 

  While Hasina celebrates her successful one year term, in her tours to different national capitals with a large retenue, she does haj, prays for her countryman now without her former hijab, but demonstrating things as normal, however, big changes are taking place;  the nation is slowly losing its independence in several sensitive areas such as in the army, police and the BDR. We see a crop of new pro Indian recruits loyal to Hasina taking charge in the administration and Hasina at the helm, implementing India's longstanding policies of making Bangladesh a dependent country. This reminds us the past Mujib era government when India fooled us once now Hasina is fooling us again.

 

It is as if like the saying "Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice shame on me." But when she is normalizing the unthinkable, this time, it is shame on the nation not to react to the process. In this radical transformation, one can see the difference between Mujib eras and now is that due to the lack of media help Mujib couldn't give the appearance of the normalization of the unthinkable and he failed. Whereas now with Indian expert help in media manipulation, and Hasina's AL's spending money, status and power is normalizing and rationalizing the unthinkable and imposing shackles on Bangladesh, but once implemented will be hard to remove.

 

 Not long ago, Hasina openly said she hates politics and she is in politics only to punish her father's killers. True, she showed her success in this in the efficient handling of the event by appointing judges in quick succession interfering in the judicial affaires. This is Hasina, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh in her second term in office.

 

But what concerns us is that she is dealing with the fate of the nation. "National strategy is total in concept and has potential, diplomatic, economic, commercial, cultural and military facets. Among the many anti Bangladesh issues she is following, at least a dozen could be identified as grave violation rights and about issues of national interest, some of them are as the following:

 

1. Repression by the Hasina government against the opposition increased substantially to the point of breaking the past record. Hasina's government continued killing and intimidating the newsman and the opposition has exceeded the BKSAL regime as if the nation's return to the Mujib's BKSAL days. It is reported, "Police and Rapid Action Battalion made 500,787 arrests around the country over the last 10 months, a report of police headquarters said Sunday."(2) Dhaka, Nov 8 (bdnews24.com) http://ca.mg2.mail.yahoo.com/dc/launch?.gx=1&.rand=43guc3lppi5dv

 

2. Similar to Mujib's, Hasina is also keeping her Indian Rakkhi Bahini with the new uniform.  In Mujib's days Rakhi Bahini was employed to secure Mujib's rule. In Hasina's more sophisticated information Indian personnel in the Shere Bangla Nagar who are now in charge of information monitoring connected to Bangladesh defence give sector. Indian National in the BRTC now working as if Hasina's Rakkhi Bahini Faisal Rahim(Weekly Holiday) reports:


"The BTRC is also having access to the Army's signal corps and other communication system, experts here say pointing to some sensitive areas and apprehend that the foreign experts sitting at the country's nerve center of Dhaka's communication system may sabotage the whole nation at the time of a crisis.


 True, "  The Prime Minister may have put them in such sensitive places as safety valves to her Government but they would remain the biggest threat to the nation. Pointing to the new developments, analysts here say that the country is in the crossroads, we are having sensitive information every time but do not know exactly where the journey will stop." (3)

 

3. Defying Bangladeshi's mass opposition to the transit issue, and without any election mandate for it or without a national referendum immediately after the election winning, Hasina began the process of giving the transit to India without anything in exchange from India. It is as if like Bangladesh is for sale. But the AL machinery's handling of the event shows it as if a normal thing.

 

4. She even dared to bring the four principles of the 1972 constitution back despite 71.44 % Prothom Alo, 72.47% Shamokal and 1957 Jugantar readers do not support reinstating 72 Constitution removing the Fifth amendment by Ziaur Rahman's government that brought multiparty democracy. She is also taking measures to remove Ziaur Rahman's name from museums, and the Zia International airport.(4)

 

This shows Hasina's AL is still "encrusted by Mujib time Stalinist organizational precepts and extreme hatred to the opposition."

 

Her new moves include the re-establishing of the BKSAL secularism, an idea Mujib government borrowed from Indra's West Bengali Congress syndicate, which in the past was proven to be one of the reasons for Mujib government's downfall. She even dared to have an education policy changed in line with Indian anti Islamic stance of Dhormohinotha approach in Bangladesh. But in the name of secularism Dharmo nirophekota, (neutrality) she is establishing anti-Islamic foundation in Bangladesh (Dhormohinota). Such policy is surely motivated to eventually make Bangladesh intellectually a pro-Indian puppet nation.

 

5. Hasina lately took away the neutrality of the judiciary by hiring pro AL and firing neutral judges in dramatic reshuffling of the judiciary. She has also fired Golam Azam's son from the army for no reason other than his father's sins. Bangladesh observers ask if she deserve the same treatment by the nation to be condemned as a Prime Minister for her father's BKSAL dictatorship and turning the Bangladesh nation into a bottomless basket case.

 

6.Hasina is responsible for the Pilkhana massacre to take place even knowing well that the carnage was in progress. She seemed to be more interested in the 39-year-old 1975 massacre that was a spontaneous act against the BKSAL dictatorial government. To the observers, Pilkhans massacre was aimed at deliberately allowing the destruction of the independent –minded army.

 

 It is unthinkable to see the heart attack death of the BDR personnel in custody, those who are apparently saying the truth behind the massacre. Questions are repeatedly asked about those mysterious BDR deaths. It appears that these deaths must be to build a strong pro-Indian army and BDR.

 

7. Hasina seems more interested to arrest Indian rebels who took shelter on Bangladesh soil while Chakma rebels and Bangabhumi anti Bangladesh rebels still keep their head quarters in Calcutta and New Delhi.(5)

 

8.Immediately after her election winning, Hasina's AL has the return of the tender grabbing gold rush or SL killing/ beating of the rival student/ professors in the university campuses. And her appointed Home Minister through nepotism getting forgiveness of crimes and presidential forgiveness to criminals. In Mujib's time while such practices led the fall of the Mujib government, in Hasina's it is seen as something normal. The emerging question to the nation is with Hasina as the Prime Minister where again Bangladesh is heading for? 

 

9. Despite the national outcry of India's dam building projects, Hasina completely ignoring the imminent danger from the effects of the Tipaimukh dam. We must question where she is obliged to the welfare of her country and the constituency or she is accountable to others.

 

10. Hasina opening the border wide to Indian business and helping to weaken the local enterprises, a practice also was in force during Mujib's pro-Indian government.

 

11. Hasina is increasing the trade deficit with India by buying more from India.

 

12. For some unexplained reason she dismissed her experienced ministers and employed as if baby ministers for responsible portfolios as the ministry of foreign affaires, home affaires, industry and trade, flood control and water development that normally require experience. In these we saw AL ministers with their defence of Indian interest during Tipaimukh dam protest even seemed as if the Indian Congress syndicate chose the entire AL cabinet. 

 

13. Hasina's government is borrowing money from ADB, IMF for big projects and making profit from local and international contracts and observers claim that Joy Wazed working as her paid advisor making millions from supposedly the grand father's Bangladesh zamindari


Why Hasina is so dared to do it while Mujib showed reluctance? Many believe that now clan is relocated in countries abroad and in Bangladesh those Sheiks that are in some kind of deputation receive royal protection to change their fate from rags to riches. This is a strange phenomenon similar to the improvised Ethiopia the respect given to Hailisalasi but the king was finally removed from power with disgrace. But unfortunate though in Bangladesh with external help' particularly from India, Mujib was re-enacted as the father of the nation.

 

Despite Hasina, anti-Bangladesh policies, many wonder why there was a civil war in Mujib's time and none in Hassian's. Clearly, the pro Indian media was not present in Mujib's time, now presents the unthinkable as normal. Secondly, India and its spy agency RAW is now more experienced from its past mistakes and is now firmly behind Hasina with its super connection with the super powers. With things in place like in Mujib's time, the RAW and now Hasina's DGFI monitor every movement of the Bangladesh opposition. It appears that until Bangladesh becomes a heavily India indebted country (when it will have direct repression and attack) India will keep Hasina's puppet regime with a show of democracy. Under the circumstances, Bangladesh watchers find Hasina's continued success to stay in power despite her unpopular moves for the reasons that:

 

Both Mujib's BKSAL and Hasina's AL based its success on propaganda and controlling the street and defying the opposition through creating terror. On the contrary the present opposition is intimidated and demoralized and even unable to face the newly released AL muscleman like Joinal Hazari and the others. Under the circumstances what the nation demands is that Hasina should be resisted for imposing shakles on Bangladesh.

 

Hasina Over the Precipice

Hasina using powerful media is normalizing the unthinkable and depriving the Bangladeshis of the much-sought Bangladesh dream, the theme of the liberation war. While Mujib was condemned for being a Pro-Indian and being the killer of democracy in Bangladesh, Hasina came to power by asking for forgiveness of her father's mistakes but now she is repeating the same BKSAL mistakes -betraying with the nation. It appears that much to the chagrin of Bangladeshis,Hasina remained a committed BKSALite with her commitment to the four principles of the 70's. Under the circumstances, people question about who is to blame for attacks on the Sheikh families: the rebels or the Sheikhs themselves? To help the nation survive as an independent entity, it is the informed people who will be the judge and the jury to judge the Sheikhs in the days to come. 

 

Endnotes:

(1) Lisa Peattie "Normalizing the unthinkable,"  Bulletin of Atomic Scientists of March 1984.

(2) Dhaka, Nov 8 (bdnews24.com) http://ca.mg2.mail.yahoo.com/dc/launch?.gx=1&.rand=43guc3lppi5dv

(3) Faisal Rahim(Weekly Holiday) Yes, Indian Nationals in the BRTC seem Hasina's BKSAL Rakhi Bahini.
http://www.weeklyholiday.net/front.html#01

(4) 71.44 % Prothom Alo, 72.47% Shamokal and 1957 Jugantar readers do not support reinstating 72 Constitution. Link: http://www.prothom- alo.com/onlinepo ll/

http://www.orangebd group.com/ samakal/detai. ..o=153&rl=20

http://jugantor. info/enews/ poll/poll_ result.php? day_id=594

(5). One Prajnalankar Bhikkhu, instead of doing devotional work in the kiangs, he provides anti Bangladesh propaganda materials from India from the following address:

Peace Campaign Group (PCG)
RZ-I-91/211, West Sagarpur, New Delhi-110046, India
Tel: + 91-11-2 539 8383
Telefax: + 91-11-2 539 4277

(6) Sadeq Khan in his, "A softly softly approach at last?" (Holiday, January 1, 2010) says

The present attorney-general of Sheikh Hasina's grand alliance government earned a dark reputation already for his habit of brow-beating the judges with veiled "people-power" threats when he is short of convincing legal arguments. Of late he chose to intervene in a most unlikely legal procedure for the state to step in. 


   A number of frivolous defamation suits were filed in mofussil magistrate courts in different districts against Mahmudur Rahman, the editor of Amar Desh and a former state minister of the last BNP government. The cases of defamation are all based on a report published in the Bengali daily about administrative indecision relating to a directive from the Prime Minister's Office to investigate an allegation of irregularity and corruption in the procurement of a compressor unit by Petrobangla without tender. The procurement order was issued by adjusting the negotiated costs of installing the compressor unit at Muchai (ADB was financing two other units at Ashuganj and Angela) against exploration costs of one of the concessions held by the OIC Chevron under a production-sharing contract with Petrobangla. Such costs are recoverable by the concessionaire from gas produced and sold back to Bangladesh at international price as prevailing in the Singapore market at the time of repayment.

 

(7)No Maritime strategy yet.

Maritime strategy: Bangladesh perspective by Vice Admiral Sarwar Jahan Nizam

http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=113000




Hotmail: Trusted email with Microsoft's powerful SPAM protection. Sign up now.

__._,_.___


[Disclaimer: ALOCHONA Management is not liable for information contained in this message. The author takes full responsibility.]
To unsubscribe/subscribe, send request to alochona-owner@egroups.com




Your email settings: Individual Email|Traditional
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully Featured
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe

__,_._,___

[ALOCHONA] Rape, divorce, lashes - triple hurt for Bangladeshi girl




Rape, divorce, lashes - triple hurt for Bangladeshi girl   
 
Sunday 24th January, 2010     
 
Life couldn't be more unfair to a teenaged Bangladeshi girl, who was first raped, then divorced on being found that she had conceived before marriage, and finally administered 101 lashes for her 'sins'.

It doesn't stop at this!

The alleged rapist, Enamul Mia, 20, was let off by village arbitrators who awarded her 101 lashes, the Daily Star newspaper said Sunday.

Eight months after being raped, village arbitrators found the 16-year-old at Khargor village of Kasba upazila (sub-division) in Brahmanbaria district, guilty and issued the fatwa (religious edict) for 101 lashes.

The arbitration also fined the victim's father Taka 1,000 ($160) and issued another fatwa that her family would be ostracised if he failed to pay up.

Village matbar (local leader) Delwar Hossain alias Ullashi executed the durra (lashes) Jan 17.

The report quoted the girl's family sources as saying Enamul Mia of Gabbari used to tease the girl on her way to school. He raped her April last year. Fearing shame, the girl did not disclose the incident.

She was married off to a man of a neighbouring village but was divorced after a month as medical test revealed that she was seven months pregnant.

She lived at her father's place after an abortion.

A group of so-called matbars, led by Manik Mia, declared that her family is to be isolated until she was punished.

The influential group arranged the arbitration Jan 17 that ruled against the girl.

At one stage of the torture, the girl collapsed and fainted. She regained consiousness after two hours.

'Enamul has spoiled my life. I want justice,' said the girl as she sobbed away silently.

Talking to the Daily Star, the neighbours spoke in favour of the girl and blamed Enamul but did not dare to say anything against the so-called village arbitration.

A team of human rights activists led by advocate Mili Chowdhury visited the village.

Their organisation will help the victim file separate cases against the culprits, Mili said.

Three women have been whipped as a result of fatwas in the district during the last six months, the report said.


 


__._,_.___


[Disclaimer: ALOCHONA Management is not liable for information contained in this message. The author takes full responsibility.]
To unsubscribe/subscribe, send request to alochona-owner@egroups.com




Your email settings: Individual Email|Traditional
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully Featured
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe

__,_._,___

[ALOCHONA] Re: [Dahuk]: The dying Ganges



But  we dont do anything  against the  Killer India.


From: Isha Khan <bdmailer@gmail.com>
To: dhakamails@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Fri, January 22, 2010 6:53:18 AM
Subject: [Dahuk]: The dying Ganges

 


 
 
 
THE Ganges, one of the largest rivers in the world, is providing fresh water to 500 million people in South Asia. The river is particularly important in delivering waters for domestic, industrial, and agricultural sustainability in the region. About 37% (area-wise) of Bangladesh depends solely on the Ganges for freshwater supply, which is not only supporting millions of lives but is also substantially important in maintaining the ecological balance of south-west Bangladesh as well as the largest mangrove forest, the Sundarbans.

In 1975, India commissioned a barrage on the Ganges at Farakka, 18 km above the India-Bangladesh border, in order to divert a portion of dry season flow to increase the navigability of Calcutta port. Right after it went into operation in 1975, the freshwater supply of the Ganges decreased considerably, with a number of consequent effects in the south-west part of Bangladesh.

For instance, the Ganges-Kobadak project, popularly known as the G-K project, is facing acute water shortage since commissioning of the barrage. Salinity both in surface water and in groundwater increased significantly, which is affecting agricultural production and drinking water availability. In effect, public heath in the Ganges dependent area is under severe threat.

Around 685 km of waterways have already disappeared, and erosion and deposition patterns have changed noticeably. The top-dying disease of Sundari trees in the Sundarbans is believed to be the result of reduced flows of the Ganges. This situation will be aggravated in the context of climate change as IPCC, in 2007, warned that the headwater source of the Ganges at the Gangotri glacier was going to disappear by 2035.

Another study reported that rainfall would be 3-7 times higher in the coming decades due to climate change, which may result in more frequent and catastrophic flooding in Bangladesh. The depositing of sediment of the Ganges system would change dramatically, which could have spectacular impacts on erosion and deposition patterns.

This write-up can be of use in discerning the morphological situation of the Ganges in Bangladesh. Long-term remotely sensed data (1972-2008), mean monthly discharge at Hardinge Bridge (1934-2008) and rainfall data of 10 stations of south-west area (1950-2008) of Bangladesh were utilised. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) was used to estimate morphological changes between 1972 and 2008.

Planform analysis revealed that both the right and the left banks of the river underwent dramatic changes since 1972, and the changes were particularly evident during the period before the treaty between the two countries. The main course of the Ganges widened many times in many places in 1984, 1989 and 1995, indicating severe lateral erosion. Erosion was more pronounced near the Ganges-Jamuna confluence near Aricha. Erosion rate per year was about 85 sq. km from 1972 to 1984. The highest erosion was observed in 1984, when more than 160 sqkm land was eroded. During 2001-2008, erosion rate reduced to about 65 sqkm/year.

In contrast, deposition of the Ganges has been increasing with the span of time, which may be attributed to soil erosion upstream as well as increasing human interventions on natural flows.. Estimation showed that in 1972, char areas in the Ganges measured 312 sqkm, whereas in 1984 and 2008, char areas increased significantly. Total areas of chars were 454 and 360 sqkm in 1984 and 2008, respectively. Calculation of sinuosity index showed that the Ganges is turning to wandering shape, meaning that the river is neither braided nor meandering in shape. In addition, few pockets throughout its course are being developed, where many-fold increase of lateral erosion is observed.

An assessment has been made to correlate these morphological changes with water flows and rainfall. The water flow data was divided into treaty and non-treaty periods. This computation clearly indicates that the morpohology of the Ganges is highly correlated with the consistent flows from upstream.

Though a 30-year water treaty has been in effect between the two countries since 1996, recent water flow analysis revealed that Bangladesh is being deprived of its due share during lean season. However, wet season flows of the Ganges have been on the rise in recent years.

Consequently, many tributaries and distributaries of the Ganges are being filled up as a result of increasing sedimentation. The Gorai, which plays a crucial role in flushing salinity further downstream, virtually dries up during dry season. Hence, to keep the Gorai river flowing, the Bangladesh government has started dredging that costs a good amount of money. Rainfall analysis of 10 stations in the Ganges dependent area of Bangladesh shows very subtle changes in the rainfall regime. Hence, water diversion by India is the only factor for the recent morphological changes in the Ganges basin in Bangladesh.

It is claimed that the normal flow of the Ganges from its source has been less than in the past and withdrawal of waters using 34 dams including Farakka in the upstream does have a significant impact on Bangladesh and its economy. If this situation continues, 37% (area wise) and one-third of the population of Bangladesh will face a critical situation in the coming decades. Probable climatic change may also aggravate the hydrological effects.

In order to keep the Ganges system alive, Bangladesh should have undertaken the construction of the proposed Ganges Barrage, which would help us to save water to be used during dry season. In addition, the Joint River Commission should play an active role to monitor the guaranteed water flow stipulated in the 1996 treaty.

Management of the large amount of sediment deposited by this river should also be taken into account in order to save people and agricultural lands from persistent water-logging, which has become a common phenomenon in Jessore and Sathkira region due to siltation in the river beds.

Since India agreed to consider Bangladesh's claim on water resources during the recent visit of Bangladesh's prime minister in New Delhi, we should keep demanding our due share according to the 1996 treaty. If we fail to maintain continuous flows in the Ganges system, it will be really impossible for us to save the environment and ecosystem of the entire south-west region of Bangladesh, including the largest mangrove forest of the world, the Sundarbans.


 
Dr. Ashraf Dewan is Associate Professor, Department of Geography & Environment, University of Dhaka.
Email:
dewan1971@gmail. com

http://www.thedaily star.net/ story.php? nid=122856




__._,_.___


[Disclaimer: ALOCHONA Management is not liable for information contained in this message. The author takes full responsibility.]
To unsubscribe/subscribe, send request to alochona-owner@egroups.com




Your email settings: Individual Email|Traditional
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required)
Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully Featured
Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe

__,_._,___