Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Dude, Where's My 'Alubokhra'?

It's funny that I just started reading "Dude, Where's My Country?" by Michael Moore. (Yeah, I know, kind of late). With all my luck, here come this news. I wonder, what would Mr Moore have faced? Good thing he only wrote about `the leader of the free world`. Better yet, good thing that he wrote it in here, not there. Don't you think?

Thanks,

------------ --------- --------- --------- -

'Alubokhra'?Amar Desh 2009/02/24 (First page)
http://www.amardeshbd.com/dailynews/detail_news_index.php?NewsID=213178&NewsType=bistarito&SectionID=home&VJF=QBZRZZFZ&oldIssueID=2009/02/24



Bangladesh official loses plum job over fruit jibe
"Bangladesh' s top information official was sacked Monday for ridiculing the country's founding leader in a poem which compared him to a dried plum"
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5icULUoHMVHS-S3q6q8OsFOfrzd0g



Bangladesh on Monday sacked its top information official for penning a poem comparing the country's founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman to a "dried
plum".

Newspaper published excerpts from his 2006 poem that compared Rahman with a "dried plum"

The publisher of the book has already closed its outlet at the annual Ekushey Book Fair on the Bangla Academy premises in Dhaka.

Bangladesh sacks official for alleged remarks against Mujibur
23 Feb 2009
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/World/Bangladesh-sacks-official-foralleged-remarks-against-Mujibur/articleshow/4179153.cms



Two sedition cases were filed yesterday against the force-retired information secretary on charges of writing a satirical verse on Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family members and publishing malicious remarks subversive to the state.

One case was also filed against the publisher of the book 'Baganey Phutey Achhey Anek Golap', accusing him of publishing a controversial book about a great leader and his family.

In the book, the writer referred to Bangabandhu as Latifur Rahman and also called him 'Alubokhra' (plum), he referred to Sheikh Kamal as Kamalakoli, Sheikh Jamal as Jamtoli and Sheikh Russel as Roskoli, the complainant said.


(No respite for Abu Karim, Wednesday, February 25, 2009)
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=77353



(Amar Desh, 2009/02/25 First page)
http://www.amardeshbd.com/dailynews/detail_news_index.php?NewsID=213355&NewsType=bistarito&SectionID=home&GCT=AVNBHWKT


Monday, February 23, 2009

What's for dinner? Ask Dipu and Hasan

What's for dinner? Ask Dipu and Hasan. It looks like they are cooking up something. I hope it will be delicious.

Is Bangladesh backtracking from long held position? Are we willingly and foolishly admitting (without any sort of intelligence) that BD is involved? I remember when THE ADVISOR of current Prime Minister visited bay area few years back. He said Bangladesh is involved in almost all of the international T activity. Is this the implementation of that theory?

"Bangladeshi minister for foreign affairs Hassan Mahmud has hinted that terrorists, who launched the November 26 Mumbai attacks, may have
used Bangladeshi soil." What?

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2611-Bangladesh-minister-hints-at-Dhaka-link/articleshow/4155682.cms


Foreign Minister Dr Dipu Moni is comparing Bangladesh-to-India with Mexico-to-USA. What? She is also giving up a long held position of Bangladesh on push-in issue.
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/stopping-illegal-migration-to-india-tough-bangladesh/85558-2.html

Few days back, Dipu Moni has agreed that Banladesh is a buffer state of Pakistan. AL spokesperson later tried to undermine that issue by saying Dipu may not have understood what a buffer state is. Give me a break. I am from her constituency. I can assure you with full confidence, what ever she might be, she is not a dumb girl. No sir, she is not.

I see a consistent propaganda from BD's own ministry (what used to be India's talking point). Is BD's Foreign Ministry now India's forward taking point?

Bangladesh's position in international policy arena will be diminished before you know yet.

She is saying "joint taskforce" more often then she is saying her own name. This is a very serious issue. What will that force be look like? Will Indian Army enter in BD? Will Indian air force round BD's air? Will their missile hit BD targets? If Dipu/Hasan continues to talk like this, in a few days, even I will start to agree with her, YES BRING THEM IN.

Am I being too skeptical? Could it be just a conspiracy theory? You may say that and I hope and pray that you are right. What if you are not?

Thanks

Back to the past and bipartisanship - Bangladesh style

"She said the media should compare neutrally and honestly the present situation with the post-election situation in 2001. After the 2001 election, she alleged, the winning BNP-Jamaat alliance carried out killings, grabbed lands, and occupied student dorms."


Yeah, we are doing it mutually. I did it, she did it, he did it, we ALL did it. So we are doing it. We will be fine.


That is what I call a true bipartisanship. Let us try to be happy!

Thanks


Student politics: a collection of reports and opinions
http://www.prothom-alo.com/sp.news.details.all.php?sid=OTI=


Eyewitness report: Photo of Police as a friendly neighbor
http://www.prothom-alo.com/archive/news_details_home.php?dt=2009-02-17&issue_id=1194&nid=MjE5ODY=


Jahangirnagar University
http://www.prothom-alo.com/archive/news_details_home.php?dt=2009-02-17&issue_id=1194&nid=MjE5ODU=


Chair @ Paltan Maidan
http://www.amardeshbd.com/dailynews/detail_news_index.php?NewsID=212409&NewsType=bistarito&SectionID=home&VVT=HLKSFBBC


Minus two, dakhol and bedokhol
http://www.amardeshbd.com/dailynews/detail_news_index.php?NewsID=212408&NewsType=bistarito&SectionID=home&QXS=WZFCHHSE


Aladin vs inheritance
http://dailynayadiganta.com/fullnews.asp?News_ID=129818&sec=1



JU BCL continues to defy central leaders
http://bdnews24.com/details.php?id=76581&cid=2


BCL dissolves JU unit, expels 2 leaders
http://bdnews24.com/details.php?id=76587&cid=2


Truck looted by Dinajpur 'BCL men'
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=76552


BCL leader harasses DU teacher
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=75832

BCL factional clash leaves 8 hurt at CU
http://nation.ittefaq.com/issues/2009/02/08/news0715.htm


Activists of Bangladesh Chhatra League, student wing of Awami League, also attacked the agitating students and issued threats to them.
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=73245

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

FW: BANGLADESH: Report blasts primary school education

To me, this is a very significant development. Around 70% of our 6th graders are "unable to read, write or count properly", that's a real problem. Most of the reasons behind this are known. We know that we have "Inadequate qualified teachers". We know that "many poor students come to school half-fed". We know that many classroom are "open air" or under the tree. In a country where 33% live under dollar-a-day poverty line and 66% live under 2-dollars-a-day poverty line, these are really tough hurdle to overcome.

What is eye opener for me is the comment, "the government placed emphasis on enrolment without concentrating on the quality of primary education". I never think of this way, but that's make sense. We made huge progress in enrollment (percentage is as high as high-90s). UN officials going around other poor nations and citing Bangladesh as an example is brilliant. This is praise worthy achievement over last couple of decade. Even our high female enrollment (thanks to our array of affirmative actions) amused our neighbors. To me this is a great advantage. Going around villages and making people understand that `education is the only way out` is a monumental job. That is done, we did it! However, that's only the beginning.

We must concentrate on the quality now. The task is twofold. First is how can we reduce drop out? There are significant developments going in this area. For example, early marriage is a significant reason for female drop out. There are laws in place to deter this, but law is not enough. Parent and community education on the issue are needed. Good thing that I see an increasing number amount of publicity are now aimed on the issue, and we are beginning to see the results. Government provided financial incentive for school attendee also paid up in big. However, there are no parallel programs aimed at boys. This is mostly because male drop out is very much tied up with poverty and child labor, and there is no near term relief in sight. If we can come up with a financial incentive program for boys that would definitely help.

The second task is how we can improve the quality of those who are able to stick around and graduate from primary school. I know that the resource is inadequate. But if 70% of the graduate is unable to read, we must have a structured institutional problem. I am sure there is opportunity for improvement even with limited resources. Educators and researchers need to concentrate on this and review existing structure. More importantly a comparative analysis is needed where we compare similar data from other neighboring countries. Where does Bangladesh stand on the quality of primary education among south Asian nations? Figure out what we are missing and where we can improve.

Thanks,
Babu


-----Original Message-----
Subject: BANGLADESH: Report blasts primary school education


DHAKA, 11 February 2009 (IRIN) - Around 70 percent of children in Bangladesh who complete their primary education are unable to read, write or count properly, according to an internal report by the Department of Primary Education (DPE).

Sixty-nine percent of students who had completed five years of primary school were unable to read news headlines in Bangla newspapers properly, while 87 percent of pupils failed to do simple mathematical calculations, the study, entitled National Assessment of Pupils of Grades Three and Five - 2006, said.

Conducted by the Second Primary Education Development Programme (PEDP-II) - a donor-assisted programme to ensure quality primary education for all children - the study reported that 72 percent of children were unable to write a short composition in Bangla - the mother tongue of over 95 percent of the population.

The report also found students "pitiably weak" in English, which plays a key role in day-to-day life, particularly in business, higher studies and technical education.

The quality of education in remote rural areas was far worse than in urban areas, largely due to a scarcity of English teachers and the predominance of religious schools (`madrasas') where English is not taught, the study said.

The report said students in the fifth grade completed only about 56 percent of the Bangla syllabus, 46 percent of the mathematics syllabus and 47 percent of the English syllabus.

Weak institutional framework

The PEDP-II study identified the weak organisational and institutional framework of primary education and the lack of a proper physical environment at school as leading causes of poor performance.

"Inadequate qualified teachers, lack of devotion on the part of the teachers, [and] poor support and monitoring from family largely contribute to the causes of weakness," Rawshan Ara Begum, head teacher of Chakhar government primary school in southern Barisal District, told IRIN.

"Many poor students come to school half-fed. They cannot pay attention to their studies in the afternoon classes as thirst for knowledge is replaced by hunger for food," she said.

According to Badrul Alam Tarafder, secretary in charge of the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education (PME), the government placed emphasis on enrolment without concentrating on the quality of primary education.

Insufficient contact hours

The PEDP-II study recommended that contact hours between teachers and students be increased and more attention paid to mathematics and literacy.

According to the DPE, children get only 500 hours annually to interact with their teachers in grades one and two. This increased to 700 hours from the third to the fifth grade.

This compared unfavourably to an international standard of 900 contact hours per year for grades 1-5.

One reason for the fewer contact hours was the running of double shifts in most government schools due to a lack of classrooms.

The low teacher-student ratio was another factor keeping contact hours down.

The study recommended that at least 90,000 new teachers be recruited and 60,000 new classrooms be built to enable the existing number of students to attend in a single shift.

Fewer holidays?

Power and Participation Research Centre (PPRC), a private research organisation, in its annual report for 2008 entitled Primary Education Halkhata (State of Primary Education), recommended reducing holidays.

"The future of the nation is dark because primary students lack adequate academic knowledge," said renowned academic Zillur Rahman Siddique. He attributed the low contact hours to long holidays.

At present in government primary schools, pupils get nine days holiday during the two Eid festivals, 15 days for the summer vacation and 20 days off for Ramadan. The report suggested seven days for the two Eids, five days in summer and 10 days for Ramadan would be more appropriate.

Some 200,000 teachers educate close to 19 million students in about 38,000 government primary schools country-wide. Teachers are paid by the government which also supplies free text books. At least 40 percent of students receive financial assistance based on their performance, attendance and the level of family poverty.

Hoirani?

http://www.amardeshbd.com/dailynews/detail_news_index.php?NewsID=212282&NewsType=bistarito&SectionID=home&TTX=YWQSKZEE

Hmm... I am still thinking about Spitzer. Now that Democrats got "landslide" victory in House-Senate- POTUS, can we declare that a "hoyrani" and drop the case? How about Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick?

Or may be if Republicans got a "landslide" victory in 2012, we can unhook our beloved Ted Stevens. No?

Ohh, no, I forget. This is not Bangladesh. No queen or princess (aka Pharaohs) would come to rescue the monsters.

[No offence intended. Have fun.]

Thanks

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Good thing there‘s a new president in office, right?

Here is Rachel Maddow's treatment on a news, see if you like it. In case you missed it lst night.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/#29129616

MADDOW: And now it is time for another installment in our thankfully very infrequent series, the RACHEL MADDOW SHOW melodramatic re-enactment. First the setting. The Ninth Circuit Federal Court of Appeals in San Francisco . The occasion, a case involving the alleged transport and torture of five terrorism suspects who were picked up as part of the CIA‘s extraordinary rendition program.
The context here, the Bush administration‘s Justice Department getting the case dismissed last year using one of Mr. Bush‘s favorite tactics, claiming state secrets. They made the argument that even talking about this case in court, even with sensitive information excluded, would jeopardize national security.
Good thing there‘s a new president in office, right, with a new Department of Justice in place for when those five prisoners appeal that dismissal, right? Right? Because there‘s no way that the Obama administration would repeat the blanket state secrecy invocation, right? Right?
Let‘s take a look at what was actually said by the lawyer and a judge in the San Francisco courtroom yesterday. We now join the hearing already fake in progress.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KENT JONES, POP CULTURIST (on camera): May it please the court. I‘m Douglas Letter for the United States Department of Justice, which has intervened in this case to urge affirmance.
MADDOW (on camera): When was the district court decision?
JONES: Hmm, about a year ago, February.
MADDOW: About a year ago? Yes. Is there anything material that has happened since that decision in terms of historical stage that has any bearing here?
JONES: No, your honor. No.
MADDOW: The change of administration has no bearing?
JONES: No, your honor.
MADDOW: The government‘s position is the same?
JONES: Exactly, your honor. The positions that I‘m arguing have been thoroughly vetted with the appropriate officials within the new administration and these are the authorized positions.
MADDOW: So you represent that you are conveying the views of the present Justice Department?
JONES: Exactly, your honor. Absolutely. Absolutely.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MADDOW: That scene is probably the closest we will ever get to seeing a federal judge, or at least a fake federal judge, doing a spit take.
Like most people who were conscious during the last election cycle, Judge Schroeder probably assumed that the person who spent the better part of two years campaigning against Bush-era secrecy and Bush-era detention, interrogation and torture policies, the man who is now president, Barack Obama, would not go use the exact same state secrets defense that the Bush administration used as a blanket shield from accountability.
A defense that means the government can do whatever it wants. It can break the law. It can avoid accountability by hiding behind state secrets. This provision intended to protect individual classified documents, but ballooned and mass-produced by the Bush administration to get entire cases preemptively dismissed.
Did that really just happen like we think it did? Or did Kent and I make it seem way worse than it really was?
Joining us now is Ben Wizner, the ACLU attorney who argued on behalf of the five plaintiffs and against the Obama Justice Department, and who will hopefully forgive me and Kent for acting out that hearing like idiots. Mr. Wizner, it‘s nice to meet you. Thank you for coming in.
BEN WIZNER, ACLU ATTORNEY: Thanks for having me and thank you also for not having somebody play me in the reenactment. I appreciate it.
MADDOW: We thought about it.
WIZNER: Yes.
MADDOW: And we realized you‘re going to be here in person. You might be mad.
Let‘s understand the context. Who are your five clients and why did you take this case?
WIZNER: These are five foreign citizens who were abducted off the streets of various countries, who had their clothes sliced off by CIA black renditions teams. These are people dressed like ninjas head to toe, who were chained to the floor of airplanes, dressed in diapers and flown to dungeons literally around the world.
Some of these were CIA black sites that were operated by our government. Some of them were prisons in countries like Egypt and Iraq that are absolutely notorious for their torture. And these flights were facilitated and organized by a private corporation that we sued in this lawsuit.
This isn‘t the first time that we‘ve tried to bring the administration into court on behalf rendition victims. We brought a lawsuit earlier on behalf of an innocent German citizen named Khalid al-Masri that was similarly thrown out on these bogus state secrets grounds.
We were hoping on Monday to have a different kind of experience with a new administration. But as you saw and as you reenacted, this is just a kinder and gentler version of “trust us.”
MADDOW: I know that the arguments in this case, the briefs had been fully prepared by the time that the Obama administration walked in the door here. All that was left to them was to do the oral arguments here. But did Obama really just take this and run with it? Did they have another option here? Couldn‘t they even just have asked for more time to come up with a different plan?
WIZNER: That would have been the obvious thing for them to do.
Remember, this is a motion to dismiss filed by the Bush administration. The basis for this motion to dismiss our lawsuit was a declaration filed by Michael Hayden, the current head of the CIA for maybe a few more days. I don‘t know how much longer.
And that declaration says that the CIA‘s detention and interrogation program is one of most vital tools in our war against terrorists. That if we let this case go forward, it will reveal classified interrogation techniques that will train enemies on how to resist it.
But on January 22nd, the actual president of the United States essentially ended that program. He banned those techniques. He closed the CIA prisons. He said that from now on, we‘re going to comply with our treaties that prevent transfer of prisoners to countries that exercise torture.
And so the question was, what is the Justice Department doing defending a declaration like that?
MADDOW: Right.
WIZNER: And why are they standing in the way of accountability? And I do want to say here that there is no moral equivalent between the two administrations. You know, we have the benefit no longer to have our country run by war criminals.
And it is terribly significant that the administration ended so-called enhanced interrogation. It‘s shutting down Guantanamo and the extraordinary rendition program. Where we differ is on another critical issue and that‘s the question of accountability.
And I think that this administration would prefer to sweep the last seven years under the rug and move on and get along. The problem is not a single torture victim, and there are hundreds, has yet had his day in court.
And you did a segment on prosecution - I understand that‘s a controversial issue. The other side of the coin is civil liability. And if torture victims aren‘t going to be able to go into court at all - and bear in mind these victims can‘t go into court. I don‘t know which victims will be able to go into court.
Then, really, you‘ll have an immunity regime for the perpetrators, for the violators and it will be impossible really to enforce the prohibitions that are in those executive orders and in our laws.
MADDOW: This is really important stuff. Ben Wizner, attorney with the ACLU National Security Project, who argued for these five plaintiffs in yesterday‘s hearing. I hope that we helped get the word out about this. It seems incredibly important to me. Thank you for working on the case.
Thanks for joining us.
WIZNER: Thanks for having me on, Rachel.

Tuesday, February 03, 2009

FW: Tom Daschle Withdraws as Obama's Health Secretary Nominee

Can anyone imagine a parallel scenario to this in Bangladesh? Can anyone block a nominee from madam/apa and still keep his head attached to his neck in following morning? Would anyone in BD withdraw? Was there even a question of block or withdraw?

The more I watch the political and governance process in US, the more I feel a growing respect. But more than that, a strange feeling trembled inside me. I find no words to describe it. Where did these guys come from? Where did I come from? Where did the leaders on BD that I supported or opposed come from? Did we born in the same world?

Do we live in the same world?

Why then we could not do a single thing to derail the Pharaohs and Monsters?

Moment like this invoke me to accept one conclusion. We are not even the same species. We may look like same, but we are not. I am convinced now. Why bother? Hakuna matata!

Thanks,

Tom Daschle Withdraws as Obama's Health Secretary Nominee
Obama Accepts Daschle's Withdrawal After Daschle Admitted He Failed to Pay Taxes.
By RUSSELL GOLDMAN
Feb. 3, 2009-


In a stunning setback for President Obama, Tom Daschle abruptly withdrew his nomination to become secretary of Health and Human Services today, following an admission that he failed to pay about $140,000 in back taxes.

In a joint Obama-Daschle statement, Obama accepted Daschle's withdrawal "with sadness and regret."

"Tom made a mistake, which he has openly acknowledged. He has not excused it, nor do I," Obama said.

Daschle, a former Senate majority leader from South Dakota, who had been one of Obama's closest advisers throughout his presidential campaign, said his tax problems meant he had lost the faith of the American people and was therefore unable to serve.

"This work will require a leader who can operate with the full faith of Congress and the American people, and without distraction," Daschle said in a statement released by the White House.

"Right now, I am not that leader, and [I] will not be a distraction," he said.

In addition to being nominated to be HHS secretary, Daschle was also slated to lead Obama's healthcare initative as health czar, a post from which he also withdrew.

Daschle's retreat raises questions about whether Obama can keep his promise to make more affordable healthcare one of the cornerstone of his agenda in his first 100 days in office.

Daschle's decision to quit the nominating process was surprising because Democratic senators had rallied around him Monday and Obama said he "absolutely" stood by Daschle.

Obama's backing didn't stop criticism of Daschle's fitness to join the White House cabinet. Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., said Obama was "losing credibility" by continuing to support Daschle. "Part of leadership is recognizing when there has been a mistake made and responding quickly," DeMint said.

Daschle's withdrawal came just hours after Nancy Killefer, Obama's nominee to be chief performance officer, withdrew her nomination following the revelation that she had a $946.69 lien on her property in 2005 for failure to pay taxes.

A third Obama Cabinet pick, Tim Geithner, admitted to Congress that he had owed and paid back more than $40,000 before he was confirmed as Treasury secretary last week, and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson withdrew his nomination as Commerce secretary over questions about state contracts.

The setbacks are likely to embarrass Obama, who announced a "new era of responsibility" at his inauguration and are likely to embolden Republican opposition to the president and his agenda at a time when Obama struggles to get his economic stimulus plan through Congress.

After a closed-door session before the Senate Finance Committee Monday, Daschle apologized and said his failure to pay taxes was unintentional.

"I deeply apologize to President Obama, to my colleagues and the American people," Daschle said. "I would hope that my mistake could be viewed in the context of 30 years of public service."

The failure by the former Senate majority leader to pay taxes on the free use of a car and driver for several years was first reported by ABC News.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/President44/story?id=6795650&page=1