Bangladesh has earned an “insignificant” progress in its fight against corruption in the current year, according to a survey report globally released yesterday by the Berlin-based NGO Transparency International.
Bangladesh ranked the 16
th most corrupt country in the world in the graft index, scored 27 points out of 100 this year, one point higher than the last year when it became 13
th.
Chairperson of the Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) trustee board, Sultana Kamal, however, termed it insignificant, as the country’s position still remains quite low.

Bangladesh will be catapulted to third in the league table of death penalty countries, behind Iran and China if the executions of 152 border guards to death over ‘2009 mutiny’ are carried out, a process that was slammed by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, amongst others.
In young and developing democracies like Bangladesh, the imprisonment of dissenting voices is commonplace, but not unsurprising. Yet it is the incendiary act of executing high-level opposition leaders before an election which risks plunging Bangladesh into turmoil. Criticism of legal processes aside, it is this challenge to the very fundamentals of a modern democracy that must concern all.
Thai police have allowed opposition protesters through barricades outside the government and metropolitan police headquarters, sharply easing tensions after two days of violent clashes aimed at ousting Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.
The reason for the sudden thaw in hostilities on Tuesday was not immediately clear but it came after police said they would no longer use force to defend their Bangkok headquarters from thousands of anti-government protesters who marched on the high-profile target.
Demonstrators were allowed to approach the perimeter fence of Government House with no resistance from security forces. Dozens of protesters also streamed into the police building where they were seen shaking hands with officers.
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